Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Maternal Influences on the Developing Fetus

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Maternal Influences on Fetal Neurodevelopment

Abstract

Observations of a link between pregnant woman and fetus, and speculation on its nature abound throughout history, literature, and across cultures. Despite the ubiquity of the phenomenon, relatively little is known about the manner in which the development of the fetus is influenced by the maternal psychological context. Scientific inquiry into the nature of this relationship has been historically hampered not by lack of interest, but by lack of access to the fetus. Although this changed considerably in the 1980s with the development of real time obstetric ultrasound, the prenatal period is the only time in development when interaction between mother and offspring cannot be directly observed and evaluated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Sontag LW, Richards TW (1938) Studies in fetal behavior: I. Fetal heart rate as a behavioral indicator. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 3(4 Serial No. 17):1–67

    Google Scholar 

  2. Sontag LW (1941) The significance of fetal environmental differences. Am J Obstet Gynecol 42:996–1003

    Google Scholar 

  3. Berntson G, Cacioppo J, Quigley K (1993) Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: autonomic origins, physiological mechanisms, and psychophysiological implications. Psychophysiology 30:183–196

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Venables PH (1991) Autonomic activity. Ann N Y Acad Sci 620:191–207

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Paarlberg KM, Vingerhoets A, Passchier J, Dekker G, van Geijn H (1995) Psychosocial factors and pregnancy outcome: a review with emphasis on methodological issues. J Psychosom Res 39:563–595

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Van den Bergh B, Mulder E, Mennes M, Glover V (2005) Antenatal maternal anxiety and stress and the neurobehavioral development of the fetus and child: links and possible mechanisms. A review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 29:237–258

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. DiPietro JA, Hilton SC, Hawkins M, Costigan KA, Pressman EK (2002) Maternal stress and affect influence fetal neurobehavioral development. Dev Psychol 38:659–668

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Field T, Diego M, Hernandez-Reif M, Schanberg S, Kuhn C, Yando R, Bendell D (2003) Pregnancy anxiety and comorbid depression and anger: effects on the fetus and neonate. Depress Anxiety 17:140–151

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. DiPietro J, Kivlighan K, Costigan K, Rubin S, Shiffler D, Henderson J, Pillion J (2010) Prenatal antecedents of newborn neurological maturation. Child Dev 81:115–130

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Richards T, Newbery H (1938) Studies in fetal behavior: III. Can performance on test items at six months postnatally be predicted on the basis of fetal activity? Child Dev 9:79–86

    Google Scholar 

  11. DiPietro JA, Ghera MM, Costigan KA, Hawkins M (2004) Measuring the ups and downs of pregnancy. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol 25:189–201

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. DiPietro JA, Christensen A, Costigan KA (2008) The pregnancy experience scale – brief version. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol 29:262–267

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Buitelaar J, Huizink A, Mulder E, de Medina Robles P, Visser G (2003) Prenatal stress and cognitive development and temperament in infants. Neurobiol Aging 24:S53–S60

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Davis E, Sandman C (2010) The timing of prenatal exposure to maternal cortisol and psychosocial stress is associated with human infant cognitive development Child Dev 81:131–148

    Google Scholar 

  15. DiPietro JA, Costigan KA, Sipsma H (2008) Continuity in self-report measures of maternal anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms from pregnancy through two years postpartum. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol 29:115–124

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Rice F, Harold G, Bolvin J, Hay D, van den Bree M, Thapar A (2009) Disentangling prenatal and inherited influences in humans with an experimental design. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106:2464–2467

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Gutteling B, de Weerth C, Zandbelt N, Mulder E, Visser G, Buitelaar J (2006) Does maternal prenatal stress adversely affect the child’s learning and memory at age six? J Abnorm Child Psychol 34:789–798

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Petraglia F, Hatch M, Lapinski R, Stomati M, Reis F, Cobellis L, Berkowitz G (2001) Lack of effect of psychosocial stress on maternal corticotropin-releasing factor and catecholamine levels at 28 weeks of gestation. J Soc Gynecol Investig 8:83–88

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Copher DE, Huber C (1967) Heart rate response of the human fetus to induced maternal hypoxia. Am J Obstet Gynecol 98:320–335

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Monk C, Myers MM, Sloan RP, Ellman LM, Fifer WP (2003) Effects of women’s stress-elicited physiological activity and chronic anxiety on fetal heart rate. J Dev Behav Pediatr 24:32–38

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Monk C, Sloan RP, Myers MM, Ellman L, Werner E, Jeon J, Tager F, Fifer WP (2004) Fetal heart rate reactivity differs by women’s psychiatric status: an early marker for developmental risk? J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 43:283–290

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. DiPietro J, Costigan K, Gurewitsch E (2003) Fetal response to induced maternal stress. Early Hum Dev 74:125–138

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. DiPietro JA, Ghera MM, Costigan KA (2008) Prenatal origins of temperamental reactivity in infancy. Early Hum Dev 84:569–575

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. DiPietro J, Costigan K, Nelson P, Gurewitsch E, Laudenslager M (2008) Maternal and fetal responses to induced relaxation during pregnancy. Biol Psychol 77:11–19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Lecaneut JP, Jacquet AY (2002) Fetal responsiveness to maternal passive swinging in low heart rate variability state: effects of stimulation direction and duration. Dev Psychobiol 40:57–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Groome L, Mooney D, Holland S, Smith L, Atterbury J, Dykman R (1999) Behavioral state affects heart rate response to low-intensity sound in human fetuses. Early Hum Dev 54:39–54

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Novak MFS (2004) Fetal–maternal interactions: prenatal psychobiological precursors to adaptive infant development. Curr Top Dev Biol 59:37–60

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Querleu D, Renard X, Boutteville C, Crepin G (1989) Hearing by the human fetus? Semin Perinatol 13:409–420

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. DiPietro JA, Irizarry RA, Costigan KA, Gurewitsch ED (2004) The psychophysiology of the maternal–fetal relationship. Psychophysiology 41:510–520

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Patrick J, Campbell K, Carmichael L, Probert C (1982) Influence of maternal heart rate and gross fetal body movements on the daily pattern of fetal heart rate near term. Am J Obstet Gynecol 144:533–538

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. DiPietro J, Caulfield LE, Irizarry RA, Chen P, Merialdi M, Zavaleta N (2006) Prenatal development of intrafetal and maternal–fetal synchrony. Behav Neurosci 120:687–701

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Johnson TRB, Jordan ET, Paine LL (1990) Doppler recordings of fetal movement: II. Comparison with maternal perception. Obstet Gynecol 76:42–43

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. DiPietro JA, Costigan KA, Shupe AK, Pressman EK, Johnson TRB (1998) Fetal neurobehavioral development: associations with socioeconomic class and fetal sex. Dev Psychobiol 33:79–91

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Nasello-Paterson C, Natale R, Connors G (1988) Ultrasonic evaluation of fetal body movements over twenty-four hours in the human fetus at twenty-four to twenty-eight weeks’ of gestation. Am J Obstet Gynecol 158:312–316

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. ten Hof J, Nijhuis IJM, Mulder EJH, Nijhuis JG, Narayan H, Taylor DJ, Visser GHA (1999) Quantitative analysis of fetal generalized movements: methodological considerations. Early Hum Dev 56:57–73

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Bell RQ (1968) A reinterpretation of the direction of effects in studies socialization. Psychol Rev 75:81–95

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Kinsley C, Madonia L, Gifford G, Tureski K, Griffin G, Lowry C, Williams J, Collins J, McLearie H, Lambert K (1999) Motherhood improves learning and memory. Nature 402:137–138

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Buckwalter J, Stanczyk F, McCleary C, Bluestein B, Buckwalter D, Randin K, Chang L, Goodwin T (1999) Pregnancy, the postpartum, and steroid hormones: effects on cognition and mood. Psychoneuroendocrinology 24:69–84

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. de Groot R, Adam J, Hornstra G (2003) Selective attention deficits during human pregnancy. Neurosci Lett 340:21–24

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. DiPietro J, Costigan KA, Gurewitsch ED (2005) Maternal physiological change during the second half of gestation. Biol Psychol 69:23–38

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Kammerer M, Adams D, von Castelberg B, Glover V (2002) Pregnant women become insensitive to cold stress. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2:8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Matthews KA, Rodin J (1992) Pregnancy alters blood pressure responses to psychological and physical challenge. Psychophysiology 29:232–240

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. DiPietro JA, Novak MF, Costigan KA, Atella LD, Reusing SP (2006) Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy in relation to child development at age two. Child Dev 77:573–587

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Ellman LM, Schetter CD, Hobel CJ, Chicz-DeMet A, Glynn LM, Sandman CA (2008) Timing of fetal exposure to stress hormones: effects on newborn physical and neuromuscular maturation. Dev Psychobiol 50:232–241

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Davis E, Snidman N, Wadhwa P, Glynn L, Dunkel-Schetter C, Sandman C (2004) Prenatal maternal anxiety and depression predict negative behavioral reactivity in infancy. Infancy 6:319–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Gutteling B, de Weerth C, Buitelaar J (2005) Prenatal stress and children’s cortisol reaction to the first day of school. Psychoneuroendocrinology 30:541–549

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Huizink A, de Medina Robles P, Mulder E, Visser G, Buitelaar J (2002) Psychological measures of prenatal stress as predictors of infant temperament. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 41:1078–1085

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Weinstock M (2001) Alterations induced by gestational stress in brain morphology and ­behavior of the offspring. Prog Neurobiol 65:427–451

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Fujioka T, Fujioka A, Tan N, Chowdhury G, Mouri H, Sakata Y, Nakamura S (2001) Mild prenatal stress enhances learning performance in the non-adopted rat offspring. Neuroscience 103:301–307

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Meek L, Burda K, Paster E (2000) Effects of prenatal stress on development in mice: maturation and learning. Physiol Behav 71:543–549

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. DiPietro JA (2004) The role of prenatal maternal stress in child development. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 13:71–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Amiel-Tison C, Pettigrew AG (1991) Adaptive changes in the developing brain during intrauterine stress. Brain Dev 13:67–76

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Huether G (1998) Stress and the adaptive self-organization of neuronal connectivity during early childhood. Int J Neurosci 16:297–306

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe St., E4531, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Janet A. DiPietro

Authors
  1. Janet A. DiPietro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janet A. DiPietro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Kennedy Krieger Institute, Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Johns Hopkins University, N. Broadway 707, Baltimore, 21205, Maryland, USA

    Andrew W. Zimmerman

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital for Child, Lurie Family Autism Center / LADDERS Cli, 1 Maguire Rd., Lexington, 02421, Massachusetts, USA

    Susan L. Connors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

DiPietro, J.A. (2010). Maternal Influences on the Developing Fetus. In: Zimmerman, A., Connors, S. (eds) Maternal Influences on Fetal Neurodevelopment. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-921-5_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-921-5_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-920-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-921-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation