Womb Stress Child at risk for depression

Stress in the womb can later cause depression

18/10/2013

If pregnant women are under a lot of stress and are overly tense, this can be a risk factor for childhood depression. This resulted in an investigation by Prof. Dr. med. Mathias Schwab, Head of the Fetal Brain Development and Disease Programming at the University Hospital Jena. According to the neurologist, the premature development of the dream sleep of unborn children plays an important role in this.

Increased Stress Hormone Levels and Depression Frequent changes in sleep stages are signs of depression
Stress and tension during pregnancy can lead to a premature development of dream sleep in unborn babies. „As the brain recovers in deep sleep, it is more active in dream sleep than in wakefulness“, says in a press release to the 21st Annual Meeting of the German Society for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine (DGSM), Schwab wants to present his research results.

Dream sleep and deep sleep would also alternate more frequently under stress, the neurologist told the news agency „dpa“. „In addition, the baby can be more stress-sensitive for life, "Schwab continued. „If there are high levels of stress hormones in the baby's blood, the body thinks - figuratively speaking - that these elevated levels are normal. "Frequent changes in sleep stages and an increased level of stress hormones are signs of depression, which explains why, „why stress during pregnancy can be a risk factor for developing depression later in life, "Schwab said.

The expert in fetal brain development conducted his research using animal models, as it is difficult to examine uterine sleeping in humans. (Ag)