As reported on BBC News, research done by the Imperial College London found that mothers who were severely stressed out during pregnancy had higher incidences of their babies being born with mental and behavioral problems such as ADHD and lower IQ levels.
The cause is the increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the mother when she’s stressed and this would then be transferred to the unborn baby through the placenta. What is worrying is the possibility of higher chances of the babies of stressed mothers having ADHD.
The studies though shows that if the baby is in the right home environment after birth, then their development would be unaffected. And it will only occur only when the mother is in extremely high levels of stress and distress.
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