Elysia Davis, a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver, led the research in partnership with researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The team studied approximately 230 mothers and their children over five years, beginning early in pregnancy. "Depression is one of the most common perinatal or prenatal complications. As many as one in five pregnant women experience depression or elevated depression symptoms during pregnancy. So this is something that has a has an impact on quite a large number of people," Davis explained. The researchers also found differences in the brain volumes of babies born to mothers in the treatment group, specifically in the hippocampus, an area associated with learning, memory and emotional development. "What we found in this study is that those babies born to mothers who were in the treatment group had differences in their brain volumes, specifically in an area of the brain called hippocampus, which is important for learning, memory, emotion development," Davis said. Also Read: Top US Expert Reveals The Menopause Symptoms Women Should Never Ignore The findings also offered insights into the relationship between stress, brain development and emotional regulation. "Our one of our sort of adaptive survival strategies, not just in humans, but we see this in animals as well under stress is to sort of develop more quickly. So we may hypothesize that that might be what's happening here is that babies who experience more stress are showing a little more rapid development. We did so what we found was the babies in our treatment group had actually smaller hippocampal volume and that smaller volume predicted lower negative emotionality, sort of better emotion regulation," Davis said. Mothers also reported that improvements in their mental health helped them feel more present and develop stronger interactions with their babies: "So one of the things that mothers have said to us is that they feel like because that because they are feeling better that this treatment was really helpful to them that they're able to be more present, have sort of stronger interactions with their baby. And so that that then benefits their baby's development. I think that is probably one of the most consistent mom report that we've heard." Also Read: Top US Expert On Why Vaccines Remain A Public Health Debate The study, supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, highlights the importance of addressing maternal mental health during pregnancy and its potential benefits for the next generation. "So if I were to say what the most exciting thing is, it is really that for providing mental health support in pregnancy, we can see impacts on the next generation. And to me, that is super novel and really important," Davis concluded. Aalokitaa Basu is a writer and Senior Copy Editor whose work explores the intersection of lifestyle, culture, beauty, wellness, and self-possession. H... View More