Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 30, 2025

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
06:39

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants

Published on: June 13, 2021

3.1K

Maternal mental health and adverse birth outcomes

Falk A C Voit1, Eero Kajantie2,3,4, Sakari Lemola5,6

  • 1Institute of Labour Economics, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany.

Plos One
|August 31, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Poor maternal mental health during pregnancy is linked to increased risks of preterm birth and low birth weight in newborns. This study highlights the importance of prenatal mental well-being for infant health outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Economics
  • Public Health
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Prenatal conditions significantly influence child health and long-term socioeconomic outcomes.
  • Maternal mental health during pregnancy is a critical factor affecting birth outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the relationship between maternal mental health during pregnancy and infant birth outcomes.
  • Specifically examining the impact on preterm birth (PT), low birth weight (LBW), and small for gestational age (SGA) infants.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized large-scale population-representative data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS).
  • Employed Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimates, matching estimators, and mother fixed effects models to control for socioeconomic factors and approach causal inference.

Main Results:

  • Consistently found that poor maternal mental health is a significant risk factor for preterm birth (PT).
  • Evidence indicates a correlation between maternal mental health and increased probability of low birth weight (LBW) offspring.
  • No significant relationship was observed between maternal mental health and infants being small for gestational age (SGA).

Conclusions:

  • Poor maternal mental health during pregnancy poses a risk for adverse birth outcomes, specifically preterm birth and low birth weight.
  • The findings underscore the importance of addressing maternal mental health to improve infant health and potentially long-term developmental trajectories.

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