The impact of maternal positive and negative affect on fetal physiology and diurnal patterns.

Background: While research has shown that maternal mood (depression and/or anxiety) can have effects on the fetus, little is known about whether maternal positive and negative affect influences the fetus.

Method: We examined fetal vascular and heart rate changes at 36 weeks gestation in 53 euthymic mothers according to their Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) scores.

Results: Mothers who reported high levels of negative affect showed reduced uterine artery flow, decreased fetal heart rate (fHR) variability, an altered diurnal pattern, and decreased uterine artery cross-sectional area compared to mothers who reported low levels of negative affect. Mothers with low positive affect had a steeper diurnal pattern in fHR accelerations and decreased uterine artery mean velocity flow than mothers with high positive affect.

Limitations: Our observational study suffers from a small sample size.

Conclusion: Even in the absence of an Axis I Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), variations in maternal affect appear to be associated with variations in fetal and uterine physiology.