Cincinnati, OH, September 7, 2012 – Heart defects are the most
common form of congenital malformations affecting newborns.
Infants who were prenatally diagnosed with congenital heart
disease (CHD) are more stable and have better outcomes than
infants who were diagnosed after birth. Diagnosing CHD in a
fetus also allows mothers to educate themselves on heart
malformations, consider their options, and potentially plan for
intervention or surgery after birth. However, a new study
scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics finds
that, along with these benefits, maternal posttraumatic stress,
depression, and anxiety are common after prenatal diagnosis of
CHD. The prenatal diagnosis of CHD is a stressful event for
parents, which can affect mood and anxiety. Maternal stress has
been linked to fetal disturbances in the hypothalamic-adrenal-
pituitary system, poor intrauterine growth, preterm birth, and
newborns who are small for gestational age (associated with
childhood attention and learning difficulties