Schizophrenia risk for babies of grieving mums
Irish-based study links bereavement and extreme stress in early pregnancy to the illness
Expectant mothers who suffer bereavement of a close relative are more at risk of giving a birth to a child with schizophrenia, a new Irish-based international study has revealed.
The research, published by an international team of researchers based in University College Cork, have discovered a link between stress in pregnancy and schizophrenia in the resulting offspring.
The team has discovered that the babies of women exposed to severe levels of stress, such as those caused by the death of a close relative, during the first trimester of pregnancy may have an increased risk of schizophrenia.
The study has already sparked much international interest among those in the medical fields and further related stress studies are pending from the team at UCC.
The research had a number of key findings. Firstly, the risk of schizophrenia was increased in offspring whose mothers were exposed to the death of a relative during the first trimester of pregnancy.
The death of a relative during the other trimesters, or up to six months before the pregnancy, was not associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia.
Secondly, the findings were consistent with other pieces of evidence from whole populations exposed to severe stress.
Thirdly, the results suggest that uterine environment may influence the neuro development of the foetus and the first trimester of pregnancy is the most important stage of this particular development.
Almost 1.4 million births, between 1973 and 1995, were examined, where the mothers lost one or more of their close relatives or had a relative diagnosed with life threatening illnesses. The choice of such a personal stress was deliberate so as to eliminate other factors, such as war or famine.
However, one of the co-authors of the study, Dr Louise Kenny, of the UCC Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, said that overall the risk remains low but that the study's importance comes from it shedding new light on a previously unexamined region.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Dr Kenny said: "Death is a very personal loss which causes stress. Stress itself is a very difficult thing to define or medically chart. But we noticed in the cases that those who experienced the loss of a loved one in the early months of pregnancy saw higher than normal rates of schizophrenia."
Dr Kenny said that the reason for the higher risk in the first trimester is because it is at that stage the foetus is undergoing the key period of development growth and it can have an adverse impact on the brain.
She said: "We know that the first trimester is when the baby's body is developing. After that, most of the development is done and the baby is simply getting bigger."
Dr Kenny and her team are set to lead a massive international study which will look at whether stress to the mother can result in premature births.
- DANIEL McCONNELL
