Can crying and depression affect an unborn baby? Having an occasional crying spell isn't likely to harm your unborn baby.
In a follow-up across pregnancy, the fetuses of the high-anger women were noted to be more active and to experience growth delays. The high-anger mothers' high prenatal cortisol and adrenaline and low dopamine and serotonin levels were mimicked by their neonates' high cortisol and low dopamine levels.
Increased noise levels can cause stress. This can cause changes in a the body that can affect your developing baby. Sound can travel through your body and reach your baby. Very loud noises may be able to damage your baby's hearing.
Q: Is it normal to cry throughout pregnancy? A: Some pregnant women experience mood swings due to hormonal changes. As levels rise and fall, moods may vary. Consistent sadness, crying, etc., may be a sign of depression which is also common during pregnancy and related to physical and emotional changes.
You and Your Baby's Emotional Connection
Research has shown that, during pregnancy, your baby feels what you feel—and with the same intensity. That means if you're crying, your baby feels the same emotion, as if it's their own.
At around 18 weeks of pregnancy, your unborn baby will start being able to hear sounds in your body like your heartbeat. At 27 to 29 weeks (6 to 7 months), they can hear some sounds outside your body too, like your voice. By the time they are full term, they will be able to hear at about the same level as an adult.
“Assuming there are no medical issues, there is no harm in a baby's excessive crying,” he says. “They may get a hoarse voice, but they will eventually get tired and stop crying. Your baby may also get a little gassy from swallowing air while crying, but that's OK.
Studies have shown that infants as young as one month-old sense when a parent is depressed or angry and are affected by the parent's mood. Understanding that even infants are affected by adult emotions can help parents do their best in supporting their child's healthy development.
No, but It Can Affect Your Pregnancy.
Answer From Yvonne Butler Tobah, M.D. While excessive stress isn't good for your overall health, there's no evidence that stress results in miscarriage.
The takeaway
While it's true your baby can cry in the womb, it doesn't make a sound, and it's not something to worry about. The baby's practice cries include imitating the breathing pattern, facial expression, and mouth movements of a baby crying outside of the womb. You shouldn't worry that your baby is in pain.
Stress doesn't directly cause miscarriage. But it may be that high levels of stress for long periods of time (chronic stress) causes poor health in pregnancy which in turn may lead to miscarriage.
Most recently, some studies are suggesting that stress in the womb can affect a baby's temperament and neurobehavioral development. Infants whose mothers experienced high levels of stress while pregnant, particularly in the first trimester, show signs of more depression and irritability.
Noisy toys and games can cause hearing damage. If a toy sounds loud to an adult, it is much louder to a baby or child. Toys should not exceed 80 to 85 decibels (e.g., alarm clock).
Moms respond to crying babies in just '5 seconds'
Cry also signals the health status of a child,” Bornstein said. “Infant cry excites some adults, mothers included, to respond with empathy and care but others with neglect or even abuse. Infant cry is a trigger to maltreatment.
Risks of depression during pregnancy can include premature birth, an underweight or undersized baby, being more irritable, less active, less attentive, and having fewer facial expressions; learning, behavioral, and developmental problems; and mental problems later in life.
They can feel pain at 22 weeks, and at 26 weeks they can move in response to a hand being rubbed on the mother's belly.
A baby's cry not only demands our attention, it also changes executive function in the brain—the very neural and cognitive processes we use to make everyday decisions.
High levels of stress that continue for a long time may cause health problems, like high blood pressure and heart disease. During pregnancy, stress can increase the chances of having a premature baby (born before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or a low-birthweight baby (weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces).
A baby can detect anger in a voice as early as 5 months.
Parental arguing causes stress in the baby, elevating their heart rate and increasing their blood pressure.
Effects of violence during pregnancy
Violence during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, a higher chance of premature birth and newborn death. Violence can also cause a pregnant partner's stress hormones to rise. These stress hormones go through the placenta to the growing baby.
Stress-related changes in a pregnant woman's heart rate and blood pressure, along with chronic anxiety, can affect the heart rate of her developing fetus, a new study concludes.
Pregnancy will bring about big changes to your relationship, especially if this is your first baby. Some people cope with these changes easily, while others find it harder. It's quite common for couples to have arguments every now and then during pregnancy.
Stress results in increased catecholamine production, which in turn leads to decreased uterine blood flow and increased fetal hypoxia. Animal studies indicate that hypoxia affects a variety of developmental processes (eg, cell death)29 and organ systems, which could result in various types of birth defects.