Risk of cognitive impairment in children after maternal exposure to the 1998 Yangtze River flood during pregnancy: analysis of data from China's second National Sample Survey on Disability

Association of Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic With Neurodevelopmental Status at 6 Months in Infants With and Without In Utero Exposure to Maternal SARS-CoV-2 Infection

“…Reported stressors have included job loss, food insecurity, and loss of housing, and the pandemic has resulted in significant increases in symptoms of anxiety and depression . Consistent with our finding that infants born to women who were in the first trimester of pregnancy during the pandemic peak had the lowest scores in gross motor, fine motor, and personal-social subdomains, data from numerous cohort studies have demonstrated that prenatal perceived stress, loneliness, and objective stress, especially during early gestation, are associated with an increased risk for adverse neurodevelopment in children …”

“…52 Consistent with our finding that infants born to women who were in the first trimester of pregnancy during the pandemic peak had the lowest scores in gross motor, fine motor, and personal-social subdomains, data from numerous cohort studies have demonstrated that prenatal perceived stress, loneliness, and objective stress, especially during early gestation, are associated with an increased risk for adverse neurodevelopment in children. 4,[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]…”

Support strategies for pregnant women and their offspring in disaster events

“…Three studies identified patients infected in early pregnancy based on antibody status and reported no increased risk of adverse outcomes. 2,3 These results suggest that severity and timing are important determinants of adverse outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. We assessed whether SARS-CoV-2 infection before 28 weeks of gestation is associated with selected obstetric outcomes.…”

“…A conceptual framework of the vulnerability and support strategies for pregnant women and their offspring in disaster events. Previous studies [1][2][3] indicate that prenatal exposure to the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic during pregnancy significantly increased the risk of cognitive impairment in toddler offspring; maternal exposure to floods during pregnancy increased the risk of cognitive impairment in childhood; and prenatal exposure to felt earthquakes increased the risk of childhood schizophrenia. The underlying mechanisms of vulnerability of pregnant women and their offspring to natural disaster events are complex: (1) at a macro level, the possible damage or suspension of public facilities such as transportation systems caused by disaster events and the short-term shortage of health resources will directly exploit the accessibility of maternal services and support from institutions and social networks during pregnancy, thereby endangering their health; (2) at a meso level, widespread natural disasters may also reduce the economic status of households with pregnant women under normal circumstances, thereby inhibiting the family's critical investment in nutrition and care for pregnant women and newborns or causing changes in the life and health-related behaviors of pregnant women, which could, in turn, affect the health of the life course of their offspring; and (3) at a microscopic level, prenatal maternal stress caused by psychological shock and trauma from a natural disaster event when pregnant women themselves bear the pressure of the event of giving birth to life might lead to a more severe long-term impact on them and exert its influence on their children by vertically transferring maternal stress hormones, altering fetal programming, and causing epigenetic modification changes…”

“…The Figure 1 presents the findings of our previous studies, which indicate that prenatal exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome pandemics and natural disasters had long-term negative effects on population health during the life course. [1][2][3] More effort is warranted to support pregnant women who are prenatally exposed to disaster events to prevent long-term effects on the health of their offspring during the life course.…”