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About 1 in 5 U.S. women experience maternal mental health conditions, and chronic stress during pregnancy can increase the risk of both maternal and child health challenges. While researchers know this stress can increase the risk of brain and mental health disorders in children, they have not fully understood the biological mechanism involved.

Now research at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has found a biological link with the placenta, which delivers oxygen and nutrients to the fetus and removes waste and carbon dioxide. Researchers found that chronic stress during pregnancy changed how the placenta communicates with the developing fetus and may affect early brain development.

Specifically, they found prenatal stress altered several placental pathways, including antiviral immune signaling, cellular energy metabolism and gene-regulatory pathways involved in chromatin, RNA processing and extracellular matrix organization. These changes may point to mechanisms through which stress during pregnancy could influence fetal development, including pathways relevant to immune signaling, growth regulation and early brain development.

"The findings are quite remarkable. We found that the placenta isn't simply a passive organ. It's an active communication system between the mother and fetus. , endowed director of the Soter Women's Health Research Program and a researcher with Ohio State's Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.

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