How are mothers and babies doing during the pandemic? Can the stress experienced by pregnant women affect their well-being and that of the baby? It is to answer these questions that the Mondino Irccs Foundation of Pavia launched a multicentre project in April 2020 that involved ten neonatal clinics in Northern Italy.
The phases of the project aim to study if and in what way stress can end up “under the skin” and influence, through epigenetic modifications, maternal-infant health, also having long-term consequences.
What are epigenetic modifications? These are changes in gene activity: in technical terms we speak of gene methylations to indicate “gene silencing”.
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Specifically, the researchers considered some genes involved in the regulation of stress and socio-emotional development and observed, for example, that the greater the stress of the mother during pregnancy, the greater the “gene silencing” in the newborn and therefore the lower it is. his ability to regulate stress at 3 months.
The goal of the study
The ultimate goal of the study is to investigate the risk trajectories for maternal-child health caused by the pandemic context in order to identify prevention strategies and targeted actions.
The study, coordinated by Livio Provenzi, psychologist and psychotherapist, involved 10 neonatal units in Brescia, Broni, Cremona, Lodi, Milan, Monza, Pavia, Piacenza, Vigevano and Voghera. The health of mother and baby was assessed with standardized measurements from the time of delivery up to 12 months of the baby.
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The phases of the study
The project involves several phases: at first, the researchers, using questionnaires that mothers fill out in the days following the birth, measure the stress levels experienced during pregnancy. Then, salivary samples are collected and analyzed to estimate the activity and methylation levels of some genes linked to the stress response and socio-emotional well-being.
To investigate, instead, the behavioral, social and emotional development of the child, at the age of three, six and twelve months of the little ones, mothers fill out questionnaires and at twelve months through a remote video-recording of the mother-child relationship, the child’s interactive and stress regulation skills.
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The first data
The study is still in progress, but it allows us to provide some data. In particular, it was observed that women with higher levels of stress during pregnancy between the months of May and December 2020 have a higher risk of developing depressive and anxious symptoms after childbirth. Furthermore, the higher levels of anxiety recorded in these women appear to reduce the emotional bond with their child and increase the stress related to the parenting role. This seems to predict the infant’s less ability to regulate behavior at three months.
These first results highlight how, even before birth, the environment in which the mother carries out the pregnancy affects the baby’s life. It seems, in fact, that the stress experienced by the mother somehow reaches the fetus and the newborn and contributes to delineate its behavior.
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But are there biological mechanisms by which this happens? To answer this question, the researchers included epigenetic analyzes in the study that seek to understand how stressful experiences can modify the functioning of DNA in the mother and child. In anticipation of these results, the risk of anxious-depressive symptoms in new mothers cannot be underestimated, which requires greater attention to be paid to the enhancement of services to ensure maternal and child health care both before and after childbirth.
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