why is it a risk factor in pregnancy

When the first symptoms of a disease appear in a person, its onset – generally silent – began to develop a long time before and without being perceived.

The English physician and epidemiologist David Barker (1938-2013) was the first to postulate what Subtle conditions of the fetus and infant can generate future consequences with the appearance, many years later, of a series of diseases in the adult individual.

He thus introduced the concept of Fetal Programming to emphasize the importance of the pre- and perinatal environment in development: if it is adverse, it will be associated with a greater probability of the appearance of pathologies in subsequent years.

He highlighted the importance of poor nutrition in the fetus and how, depending on the nutritional stimulus it receives, adaptations or biochemical modifications are caused with changes in metabolism and physiology in the following years.

This first hypothesis led to research with the current accepted link that states that some diseases (cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular pathologies, obesity) are not always due to genetic failure or unhealthy lifestyles but also They are a consequence of the quality of fetal development during pregnancy and in the first years of life.

To give an example: high blood pressure in an adult could have its origin in the lower number of glomeruli in the kidney than in children who had intrauterine growth retardation or low birth weight. And many consider these early phenomena as the highest risk factors in the development of some psychiatric disorders, in childhood and adulthood.

In other words, Everything that happens in the womb during pregnancy leaves permanent traces.

All stressors acquire a key role that requires their rapid detection: if they are of short duration they can affect functional neurodevelopment, while if they are prolonged they could induce permanent alterations.

Stress affects us all, including pregnant women. No matter how happy you feel with that situation, it is inevitable since it usually coexists with concerns about the health of the fetus, about what the birth will be like, about your work situation, about your physical changes, about possible changes in your relationship as a couple. , added in our environment to the current complicated economic and social situation.

Every situation of maternal stress increases the production of cortisol –the stress hormone par excellence -, which will pass to the fetus through the placenta and generate consequences for it. As it is also accompanied by an increase in adrenaline, vasoconstriction occurs in the arteries of the placenta, putting it at risk.

Statistics usually show that they are one of the frequent causes of premature births. And, in fact, prematurity is one of the most cited effects in relation to stress in pregnancy and the cause that children can suffer from bronchiolitis, asthma or allergies.

There is no doubt that anxiety and early stress are risk factors for the development of pregnancy. (increased risk of spontaneous abortion, lower growth of the fetus, premature birth, hormonal alterations in the child, low birth weight) and with potentially harmful effects that only manifest in adult life.