Mum’s depression can affect unborn baby

A MOTHER’S depression during pregnancy may affect her unborn baby, experts say.

Infants born to women who suffered depression while pregnant were less alert and responsive in tests at one week old, researchers at King’s College London found.

Scientists monitored 106 pregnant women and then tracked their babies for a year.

When the babies were six days old, they were assessed for alertness and response to stimuli such as noise and light.

Those born to mothers with depression in pregnancy had poorer performances than the control group, reports the Psychoneuroendocrinology journal.

A year later those babies also showed more evidence of stress when they were being vaccinated, indicating their mothers’ depression while they were in the womb had a lasting impact.

About one in four women now suffer anxiety and depression while pregnant, up from one in six in the early 1990s.

Experts believe the rise is down to the pace of modern life, including social media, pressure to continue working and social isolation.