Examining the association between prenatal maternal stress and infant non-nutritive suck - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2023 Apr;93(5):1285-1293.

doi: 10.1038/s41390-021-01894-9. Epub 2021 Dec 16.

Andréa Aguiar # 2 3, Max T Aung 4, Sarah Dee Geiger 2 5, Morgan Hines 6, Megan L Woodbury 2 7, Alaina Martens 6, Gredia Huerta-Montanez 8, José F Cordero 8, John D Meeker 9, Susan L Schantz 2 3, Akram N Alshawabkeh 10; Program Collaborators for Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes

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Examining the association between prenatal maternal stress and infant non-nutritive suck

Emily Zimmerman et al. Pediatr Res. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

Background: This study examined the relationship between prenatal maternal stress (PREMS) and non-nutritive suck (NNS) and tested its robustness across 2 demographically diverse populations.

Methods: The study involved 2 prospective birth cohorts participating in the national Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program: Illinois Kids Development Study (IKIDS) and ECHO Puerto Rico (ECHO-PROTECT). PREMS was measured during late pregnancy via the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). NNS was sampled from 1- to 8-week-olds using a custom pacifier for ~5 min.

Results: Overall, 237 mother-infant dyads completed this study. Despite several significant differences, including race/ethnicity, income, education, and PREMS levels, significant PREMS-NNS associations were found in the 2 cohorts. In adjusted linear regression models, higher PREMS, measured through PSS-10 total scores, related to fewer but longer NNS bursts per minute.

Conclusions: A significant association was observed between PREMS and NNS across two diverse cohorts. This finding is important as it may enable the earlier detection of exposure-related deficits and, as a result, earlier intervention, which potentially can optimize outcomes. More research is needed to understand how NNS affects children's neurofunction and development.

Impact: In this double-cohort study, we found that higher maternal perceived stress assessed in late pregnancy was significantly associated with fewer but longer sucking bursts in 1- to 8-week-old infants. This is the first study investigating the association between prenatal maternal stress (PREMS) and infant non-nutritive suck (NNS), an early indicator of central nervous system integrity. Non-nutritive suck is a potential marker of increased prenatal stress in diverse populations. Non-nutritive suck can potentially serve as an early indicator of exposure-related neuropsychological deficits allowing for earlier interventions and thus better prognoses.

© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures

The authors have no disclosures to report.

Figures

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

(A) A picture of the non-nutritive suck (NNS) device setup, which includes a laptop connected to a 4-channel ADInstruments PowerLab 4/26 data acquisition system. This system is attached to the pressure transducer (black box) that connects to the pacifier. (B) An infant from ECHO-PROTECT being assessed with the NNS device. (C) An illustration of a report of 28 s of NNS activity generated by the NNS system. Time elapsed during the NNS test/sampling is in the x-axis and is measured in seconds (s). Amplitude or strength of each suck cycle is in the y axis and is measured in CmH20. Three NNS bursts are present with pause periods for respiration. Frequency is measured by examining the cycles per second within a burst. Black dots indicate the peak of individual NNS cycles.

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Conceptual model for prenatal maternal stress and infant non-nutritive suck. and study site.

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