Maternal depression and anxiety and fetal-neonatal growth.

OBJECTIVE: Maternal depression and anxiety have been found to negatively affect fetal and neonatal growth. However, the independent effects of maternal depression and anxiety on fetal-neonatal growth outcomes and trajectories remain unclear. This study aimed to analyze simultaneously the effects of maternal prenatal depression and anxiety on (1) neonatal growth outcomes, and (2), on fetal-neonatal growth trajectories, from the 2nd trimester of pregnancy to childbirth.

METHODS: A sample of 172 women was recruited and completed self-reported measures of depression and anxiety during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy, and at childbirth. Fetal and neonatal biometrical data were collected from clinical reports at the same assessment moments.

RESULTS: Neonates of prenatally anxious mothers showed lower weight (p=0.006), length (p=0.025), and ponderal index (p=0.049) at birth than neonates of prenatally non-anxious mothers. Moreover, fetuses-neonates of high-anxiety mothers showed a lower increase of weight from the 2nd trimester of pregnancy to childbirth than fetuses-neonates of low-anxiety mothers (p<0.001). Considering maternal depression and anxiety simultaneously, only the effect of maternal anxiety was found on these markers of fetal-neonatal growth outcomes and trajectories.

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the independent longitudinal effect of maternal anxiety on major markers of fetal-neonatal growth outcomes and trajectories, simultaneously considering the effect of maternal depression and anxiety.