Maternal Stress During Pregnancy Predicts Infant Infectious and Noninfectious Illness.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between prenatal stress and infant physical health in the first year of life within an understudied, racially and ethnically diverse, highly stressed community sample. We expected that greater stress exposure would predict higher rates of infant illness. STUDY DESIGN: Low-income, racially/ethnically diverse, overweight women with low medical risk pregnancies were recruited (2011-2014) during pregnancy. Pregnancy Stressful Life Events were assessed retrospectively (mean, 11.88 months postpartum). Perceived stress was assessed twice during pregnancy (at a mean of 17.4 weeks and again at a mean of 25.6 weeks) and at 6 months postpartum. Women with live births (n = 202) were invited; 162 consented to the offspring study. Medical records from pediatric clinics and emergency departments for 148 infants were abstracted for counts of total infectious illnesses, total noninfectious illness, and diversity of illnesses over the first year of life. RESULTS: The final analytic sample included 109 women (mean age, 28.08 years) and their infants. In covariate-adjusted negative binomial models, maternal perceptions of stress across pregnancy were positively associated with infant illness. Each 1-point increase in average stress was associated with a 38% increase in incidence of infant infections (Incidence rate ratio, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.01-1.88; P < .05), a 73% increase in noninfectious illness (IRR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.34-2.23; P < .05), and a 53% increase in illness diversity (IRR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.25, 1.88; P < .01); effect sizes were larger for perceived stress later in pregnancy. Stressful life events count and postnatal stress were not uniquely associated with illness. CONCLUSIONS: In line with recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics to screen for maternal perinatal depression, screening and support for stress reduction during pregnancy may benefit both maternal and child health.

Prenatal Maternal Objective and Subjective Stress Exposures and Rapid Infant Weight Gain.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the associations between 3 prenatal stress exposures and rapid infant weight gain. STUDY DESIGN: Participants were 162 maternal-child dyads drawn from a nonrandomized controlled trial evaluating a prenatal intervention for reducing women's stress and excessive gestational weight gain and subsequent longitudinal observational study of offspring outcomes. Participants were predominantly low-income and racial or ethnic minorities, and mothers were overweight or obese prepregnancy. Primary exposures were objective stress exposures (number of stressful life events) and subjective distress (maternal perceived stress and depressive symptoms) during pregnancy. The primary outcome was rapid infant weight gain from birth to 6 months, assessed via birth records and in-person anthropometry measurements. RESULTS: In total, 28% of the sample (N = 40) met criteria for rapid infant weight gain. In adjusted models, exposure to prenatal stressful life events was associated with increased odds of rapid infant weight gain (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.07-1.83, P = .014). Neither prenatal perceived stress (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.16-1.37, P = .17) nor depressive symptoms (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.76-1.03, P = .13) were significantly associated with rapid infant weight gain. CONCLUSIONS: Each additional stressful life event a woman experienced during pregnancy was associated with 40% greater odds of rapid infant weight gain. Future research should evaluate whether prenatal interventions that focus on reducing exposure to stressful events prevent rapid infant weight gain.