Maternal hair cortisol levels affect neonatal development among women conceiving with assisted reproductive technology.

: To compare stress levels throughout pregnancy in women who had conceived using assisted reproductive technology (ART) and women who had conceived naturally and somatometric values for infants. : Pregnant women who have received ART are exposed to high levels of stress. : Ninety-one women attending a prenatal appointment at a Health Centre (Granada, Spain), and their 91 newborns participated in this study: 69 women conceiving naturally and 22 conceiving using ART.

[GESTASTRES cohort study protocol on the effects of stress during pregnancy by measuring the cortisol in women's and newborn's hair].

The aim was to present the longitudinal study protocol on the effects of perinatal stress from conception to one year of age. Stress is associated to psychopathological, cardiovascular and inmunological diseases. During pregnancy, the activation of the Hipotalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal results in an increased release of cortisol.