Fetal sex and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: findings from two prospective pregnancy cohorts.

Background: Fetal sex is known to modify the course and complications of pregnancy, with recent evidence of sex-differential fetal influences on the maternal immune and endocrine systems. In turn, heightened inflammation and surges in reproductive hormone levels associated with pregnancy and parturition have been linked with the development of perinatal depression. Here, we examined whether there is an association between fetal sex and maternal depression assessed during the prenatal and postnatal periods.

Associations of Maternal Trait Anger Expression and Lifetime Traumatic and Non-traumatic Experiences with Preterm Birth.

Objectives: Most studies examining psychosocial factors contributing to preterm birth (PTB) have focused on negative life events. Studies examining the influence of negative emotion, in particular maternal anger, remain sparse. We examined associations of maternal trait anger expression and lifetime traumatic and non-traumatic experiences with the risk of PTB.

Prenatal cortisol modifies the association between maternal trauma history and child cognitive development in a sex-specific manner in an urban pregnancy cohort.

Women's experience of trauma may cause lifelong alterations in physiological stress regulation, which can be transmitted to offspring in utero. We investigated, in a prospective pregnancy cohort, associations among maternal lifetime interpersonal trauma (IPT) history, prenatal cortisol dysregulation, and children's memory domains. Sex-specific effects were also explored.