Maternal Stress During Pregnancy can Negatively Impact Child's Health R

Maternal stress during pregnancy has negative outcomes and children born to such mothers could be victims of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. This risk is more pronounced if the child copes with the stress passively.Studies conducted on rodents have pointed to substantial risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in offspring that coped with stress passively.The risk of diabetes and obesity in the children of stressed mothers also depended upon how the child coped with the stress.Children of stressed mothers who adopted a passive coping style portrayed increased weight gain and also developed impaired glucose tolerance. This was not the case in children of stressed mothers who portrayed proactive coping styles. It is time to focus on teaching pregnant women to avoid stress as well as ways to cope with it if they are under stress. Children of stressed mothers who react passively to stress also need to be trained to adopt different coping skills so that they can keep the health risks at bay.