Don’t Worry, Mama

New research finds correlation between worried pregnant women and their children who show slower cognitive development, but don’t worry, the study concludes. “Contrary to old beliefs, however, research shows that ordinary day-to-day job and home stress isn’t likely to cause low birth weight or other problems for most women. Traffic delays, work deadlines and other everyday hassles aren’t likely to pose a threat to unborn babies, researchers say, and pregnant women who feel they are coping well tend to do just fine. Instead, new studies are revealing a link between a certain kind of stress and some developmental delays in the baby: worrying excessively about the pregnancy itself. This ‘pregnancy-specific anxiety’ was linked to lower cognitive-development scores in babies at 12 months of age, based on a study published recently in Child Development by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, echoing other research. Women who experience this kind of anxiety worry excessively about potential problems with fetal development, miscarriage or giving birth.”