” We were amazed to discover definitely no signal recommending that direct exposure to COVID while in utero was connected to neurodevelopmental deficits. Rather, being in the womb of a mother experiencing the pandemic was associated with slightly lower ratings in areas such as motor and social skills, though not in others, such as communication or problem-solving skills. The results recommend that the huge quantity of stress felt by pregnant mothers during these extraordinary times may have played a function.”
” These were not big distinctions, implying we did not see a higher rate of actual developmental hold-ups in our sample of a couple of hundred children, just small shifts in typical ratings in between the groups,” Dumitriu states. We understand this from natural catastrophes and other pandemics.”
” Infants born to mothers who have viral infections during pregnancy have a greater threat of neurodevelopmental deficits, so we believed we would discover some changes in the neurodevelopment of infants whose mothers had actually COVID during pregnancy,” says Dani Dumitriu, MD, PhD, assistant teacher of pediatrics and psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and lead detective of the study.
” We were surprised to discover absolutely no signal suggesting that exposure to COVID while in utero was connected to neurodevelopmental deficits. Rather, being in the womb of a mother experiencing the pandemic was associated with slightly lower ratings in areas such as motor and social skills, though not in others, such as communication or analytical skills. The outcomes recommend that the big amount of tension felt by pregnant moms throughout these unmatched times may have played a function.”
” These were not large distinctions, meaning we did not see a greater rate of real developmental delays in our sample of a couple of hundred babies, just little shifts in average scores between the groups,” Dumitriu states. “But these small shifts require cautious attention because at the population level, they can have a significant public health impact. We understand this from natural disasters and other pandemics.”
Developmental trajectory of babies begins early
When the very first wave of COVID struck New York City in early 2020, Dumitriu led a group of pediatric researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian in arranging studies investigating the impact of the virus on infants through the COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes (COMBO) Initiative.
In one early study, the researchers found that mothers do not pass the COVID infection to their fetus. It is understood that viral health problems during pregnancy increase the risk of neurodevelopmental hold-ups in children through activation of the mothers immune system, which in turn impacts fetal brain advancement.
” The developmental trajectory of an infant starts prior to birth,” says Dumitriu, who is a pediatrician in the Well Baby Nursery at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Childrens Hospital. “With possibly countless babies who may have been exposed to COVID in utero, and a lot more mothers simply living through the stress of the pandemic, there is an important need to understand the neurodevelopmental impacts of the pandemic on future generations.”
In the current study, the scientists examined responses from a questionnaire that pediatricians provide to moms and dads to assess elements of infant development, such as communication and fine and gross motor, analytical, and social skills.
Nearly half of the mothers in the research study had actually COVID at some point during their pregnancies, though the majority of the health problems were asymptomatic or mild.
No distinctions were found in ratings in between babies who were exposed to COVID in utero and those born throughout the pandemic whose moms did not agreement COVID throughout pregnancy. Nevertheless, typical scores amongst babies born during the pandemic– whether their mothers had COVID during pregnancy or not– were lower than the gross motor, great motor, and social abilities of 62 pre-pandemic infants born at the very same medical facilities.
” We want parents to understand that the findings in our little study do not always suggest that this generation will be impaired later in life,” Dumitriu says. “This is still a really early developmental phase with lots of chances to step in and get these babies onto the right developmental trajectory.”
Could COVID-related tension affect brain advancement?
Though the study did not measure maternal tension throughout pregnancy, Dumitriu says its possible that the stress triggered by the pandemic and experienced by the moms throughout pregnancy describes the drop in motor and social abilities discovered in babies born throughout the pandemic.
Previous studies have shown that maternal stress in the earliest stages of pregnancy has a bigger effect on socioemotional operating in babies than tension later in pregnancy, and a comparable pattern was discovered in the new study: Infants whose mothers were in the very first trimester of pregnancy at the height of the pandemic had the most affordable neurodevelopment scores.
Other factors, including less play dates and altered interactions with stressed out caretakers, might help discuss why children born during the pandemic have weaker social and motor abilities than children born prior to the pandemic.
The researchers will continue to follow these babies in long-lasting studies.
Reference: “Association of birth during the COVID-19 pandemic with neurodevelopmental status at 6 months in babies with and without in utero exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection” 4 January 2022, JAMA Pediatrics.
Other authors are Lauren Shuffrey (Columbia), Morgan Firestein (Columbia), Margaret Kyle (Columbia), Andrea Fields (Columbia), Carmela Alcantara (Columbia), Dima Amso (Columbia), Judy Austin (Columbia), Jennifer Bain (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Jennifer Barbosa (Columbia), Mary Bence (Columbia), Catherine Bianco (Columbia), Cristina Fernandez (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Sylvie Goldman (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman (University of California San Diego), Violet Hott (Columbia), Yunzhe Hu (Columbia), Maha Hussain (Columbia), Pam Factor-Litvak (Columbia), Maristella Lucchini (Columbia), Arthur Mandel (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Rachel Marsh (Columbia), Danielle McBrian (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Mirella Mourad (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Rebecca Muhle (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Kimberly Noble (Columbia), Anna Penn (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Cynthia Rodriguez (Columbia), Ayesha Sania (Columbia), Wendy Silver(Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Kally OReilly (Columbia), Melissa Stockwell (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), Nim Tottenham (Columbia), Martha Welch (Columbia), Noelia Zork (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian), William Fifer (Columbia), and Catherine Monk (Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian).
The research study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01MH126531, K99HD103910, and P2CHD058486), Rita G. Rudel Foundation, and the Society for Research in Child Development.
Columbia scientists found that babies born during the pandemics very first year scored lower on a developmental screening test of social and motor skills at 6 months– no matter whether their moms had actually COVID throughout pregnancy– compared to children born right before the pandemic.
The study, that included 255 babies born at a NewYork-Presbyterians Morgan Stanley Kids Health center and Allen Health Center in between March and December 2020, was released in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.