Low motor development may also mean poorer mental and physical health, which stresses the importance of good mental and emotional health of women during their pregnancy.
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The study was done on nearly 3,000 mothers, with the researchers asking them to record stressful incidents in their 18th until their 34th weeks.
When the children born of those pregnancies were 10, 14, and 17 years old, they were assessed on their overall motor development and coordination using a 10-item movement test. The test measured children’s hand strength as well as their ability to touch a finger to one’s nose and then back to the index finger, distance jump, walk along a line heel to toe, and stand on one foot.
A recent Australian study has linked mother stress levels during pregnancy with the child’s coordination capacities later in life.
Money problems were the most common stress factor affecting just over a quarter of the pregnant women at 34 weeks, said the study in the journal Child Development.
Fine motor skills were assessed by the children’s ability to move small beads from one box to another, thread beads onto a rod, tap their finger for 10 seconds, turn a nut on a bolt, and slide a rod along a bar.
Moreover, stressful events that occurred in later pregnancy seemed to have a greater effect on the children’s coordination than those that occurred earlier, the researchers said.
Interestingly, the researchers found that stressful events experienced by the mothers in later pregnancy appeared to have more influence on the child’s motor development scores, compared with those whose mothers experienced the stress earlier. The researchers say this suggests an “accumulative effect of stress on the developing fetal motor system.” .
It is already known that stress during pregnancy can affect the behaviour and cognitive abilities of a few children, however little research has been done on the potential impact of maternal stress on motor development.
Commenting on their findings, study coauthor Prof.
Indeed, this is an interesting study which now suggests that “programs aimed at detecting and reducing maternal stress during pregnancy” could, in fact, improve the long-term outlook for their children, according to study author Beth Hands, who is the professor of human movement with the University of Notre Dame.
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Pregnant women are all encouraged to protect the fetus and get rid of stress. However, with intervention and support, this can be improved in a number of cases.
