Investigating How Maternal Mental Health in Pregnancy Shapes Childhood Brain Development Trajectories

Pregnancy can be a physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding experience that can negatively impact maternal mental health. For some, pregnancy is a highly stressful experience, and recent research proposes that prenatal stress may have consequences on fetal growth in utero and early childhood development. For instance, previous studies have demonstrated how poor maternal mental health during pregnancy has been associated with changes in the amygdala and hippocampus of the fetus. The COVID-19 pandemic was a very unique, widespread, and shared stressor for vulnerable individuals, including those that were pregnant during this period. Within this study the Pregnancy During the Pandemic (PDP) dataset will be examined, containing mental health reports of pregnant individuals during the pandemic and their children's neuroimaging data and health reports. This project plans to assess and provide insight into potential long-term impacts of poor maternal mental health during pregnancy, by examining toddler brain development in children who were exposed to prenatal maternal mental health issues. Moreover, this study may help inform when treatments may have the most impact to offer support to promote child development.