Women who are stressed out during pregnancy may have lasting consequences for their children, media reported Monday quoting researchers as saying at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society in Toronto. Women stressed about money, relationships and other problems may give birth to babies who are predisposed to allergies and asthma, according to the findings of the researcher. Wright and colleagues found mothers who were the most distressed during pregnancy were most likely to give birth to infants with higher levels of immunoglobulin E or IgE — an immune system compound — even though their mothers had only mild exposure to allergens during pregnancy. Babies whose mothers were the most stressed out — but who had low exposure to dust mites in the home — still had high levels of IgE in their cord blood. read more

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