With research showing that sharing mother's stress in the womb can leave children prone to depression, Jenny Lee chats to play therapist and counsellor Keely Mosley about ways of preventing emotional and mental problems in the future
WITH growing rates of anxiety and depression among children and young people scientists are stressing that good mental health begins in pregnancy. Researchers at Edinburgh University claim that some people more prone to suffering from stress and anxiety do so because they shared their mother's stress while still in the womb. "There is an enzyme found in high levels in the placenta and the baby's brain. It seems to be a natural barrier to stress hormones and it deactivates them," says Edinburgh University researcher Professor Jonathan Seckl. "If you inhibit this barrier then you start to get children with a low birth weight who have altered stress responses and depression. This may be what underpins the variation you get from one individual to another."
Normally, the placenta, the baby's lifeline as it grows in the womb, protects it from hormones that build up in the mother's blood when she is stressed. In some women, however, the protection is weak and the harmful hormones cross from mother to baby.
Once the stress hormones have breached the barrier, they can affect the delicate developing brain and trigger changes that leave the child prone to conditions such as depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and leave children more anxious. Reducing stress late in pregnancy is especially important. Studies of children who were in the womb during the 9/11 terrorism attacks in New York have also shown that if mothers are exposed to stress in the third trimester their babies tend to have altered stress responses and altered behaviour. Keely Mosley is a Certified Play Therapist and assistant team-leader for the OKAY Team (Only Kids And Youth for age 5-17) at New Life Counselling, a Northern Ireland voluntary organisation supporting families' emotional health and wellbeing through counselling and therapeutic services.
She has witnessed at first hand the adverse effect of stress hormones being released in the womb. "A lot of our clients would present with mood disorders, anxiety, depression and stress. Very often you can trace it back to those earliest days," says Keely, who emphasises that pregnant mums and expectant dads can take preventative measures to give their children the best start in life and help avoid future mental and emotional health problems. "If a baby is conceived in a stressful environment - say there is a bereavement, domestic violence, job loss or worry about a miscarriage - it can cause babies to be born premature, have a low birth weight or failure to thrive.
It can also cause attachment and sensory integration and anxiety. "A child won't have a cognitive or verbal memory of that experience of insecurity and anxiety in the womb but they have a body memory of that. It might be that sensation of being unsafe or stressed will affect their little bodies and they will find it harder to self-regulate. It reduces their resilience. "And a child like that might get hyper-aroused and then not able to calm themselves down."
Self-care in pregnancy is key to reducing stress. "Treat yourself like you are carrying precious cargo,"
Keely says. "Do not feel guilty to play the pregnancy card. That baby only gets those nine months to develop. So let your house be messy and take a bath or go to bed early instead. Practice mindfulness and take care of yourself."
That's all well and good with the first pregnancy, but what if you have other demanding kids already? "You need to be even more consciousness of your wellbeing and not feeling guilty of leaving the other child with daddy or the grandparents while you take a bath or nap," she adds.
Eating healthy is another key measure expectant mums should do to give their babies a healthy start and if they do have questions about their pregnancy or general worries, Keely underlines the importance of talking to someone.
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