Depression during pregnancy: is the developmental impact earlier in boys? A prospective case-control study.

Objective: Animal studies have shown sex differences in the impact of prenatal maternal stress on the offspring. The aim of this prospective case-control study was to assess the effect of prenatal depression on newborn and 1-year-old infant characteristics as related to gender, controlling for confounding variables.

Method: We screened 205 pregnant women from April 2004 to November 2006 for depressive symptoms.