Full Description
This book offers a comprehensive overview of how maternal psychological stress during pregnancy and postpartum affects both maternal health and fetal development. Drawing on the latest research, it explores how stress-related biomarkers like cortisol can cross the placenta, influencing the child's health from birth through adulthood—and even across generations.
Written by leading experts, the 15 chapters examine the biological and psychological mechanisms involved, including the HPA axis and brain-gut axis. Topics include the impact of stress on pregnancy outcomes (e.g., pre-eclampsia, prematurity, low birth weight), neonatal health (e.g., colic, altered gut microbiota), and long-term risks such as autism, ADHD, and cardiovascular disease.
The book also addresses key stressors—such as intimate partner violence, war, and economic hardship—with a focus on pregnancy-specific stress as particularly harmful.
Essential reading for clinicians, researchers, and students in maternal and neonatal health, this volume also serves as a valuable resource for policymakers and healthcare stakeholders.
Contents
1. Why studying Maternal Stress is Necessary: An Integrated Introduction to the Book.- 2. From Conception to Delivery: Potential Sources of Maternal Stress.- 3. Maternal Stress during the Postpartum: Why we Cannot Ignore this Period.- 4. Intimate Partner Violence during Pregnancy and the Postpartum: An Increasing Problem Worldwide.- 5. Psychological Stress, Pregnancy-Specific Stress and Adverse Impact in the Offspring.- 6. Wars as a source of Maternal Stress during Pregnancy and Postpartum.- 7. Natural Disasters Can Increase Maternal Stress.- 8. Advancing Knowledge on Assisted Reproductive Techniques and Stress.- 9. Assessment of Biomarkers involved in the transmission of Maternal Psychological Stress through the Placenta to the Fetus.- 10. The Role of the Brain-Gut Axis in Maternal Stress and its Detrimental Consequences.- 11. Oxytocin: The protective Factor Against High Levels of Maternal Stress and its Adverse Consequences.- 12. Partners' Stress Is Also a Source of Maternal Stress..- 13. Fetal Programming: An Explanation on how Maternal Stress Impacts Future Generations.- 14. Scientific Interventions to Reduce Maternal Stress: Improvement of Maternal and Fetal Outcomes.
