Infants exposed to caregivers infected with SARS-CoV-2 may have heightened infection risks relative to older children due to their more intensive care and feeding needs. However, there has been limited research on COVID-19 outcomes in exposed infants beyond the neonatal period. Between June 2020 – March 2021, we conducted interviews and collected capillary dried blood spots from 46 SARS-CoV-2 infected mothers and their infants (aged 1-36 months) for up to two months following maternal infection onset (COVID+ group, 87% breastfeeding). Comparative data were also collected from 26 breastfeeding mothers with no known SARS-CoV-2 infection or exposures (breastfeeding control group), and 11 mothers who tested SARS-CoV-2 negative after experiencing symptoms or close contact exposure (COVID- group, 73% breastfeeding). Dried blood spots were assayed for anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG and IgA positivity and anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 + S2 IgG concentrations. Within the COVID+ group, the mean probability of seropositivity among infant samples was lower than that of corresponding maternal samples (0.54 and 0.87, respectively, for IgG; 0.33 and 0.85, respectively, for IgA), with likelihood of infant infection positively associated with the number of maternal symptoms and other household infections reported. COVID+ mothers reported a lower incidence of COVID-19 symptoms among their infants as compared to themselves and other household adults, and infants had similar PCR positivity rates as other household children. No samples returned by COVID- mothers or their infants tested antibody positive. Among the breastfeeding control group, 44% of mothers but none of their infants tested antibody positive in at least one sample. Results support previous research demonstrating minimal risks to infants following maternal COVID-19 infection, including for breastfeeding infants.
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A Caretaker Acute Stress Paradigm: Effects on behavior and physiology of caretaker and infant
While experimental stress paradigms of infants (arm restraint; the Still‐Face) are powerful tools for infant research, no study has experimentally stressed mothers to observe its independent effects on infant stress regulation. Extant caretaker/maternal stress studies essentially are correlational and confounded by other conditions (e.g., depression). Here, we present a standard procedure, the Caregiver Acute Stress Paradigm (CASP), for stressing mothers during
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10453319
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Developmental Psychobiology
- Volume:
- 63
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0012-1630
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 237-246
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Objective. Maternal stress is a psychological response to the demands of motherhood. A high level of maternal stress is a risk factor for maternal mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, as well as adverse infant socioemotional and cognitive outcomes. Yet, levels of maternal stress (i.e., levels of stress related to parenting) among low-risk samples are rarely studied longitudinally, particularly in the first year after birth. Design. We measured maternal stress in an ethnically diverse sample of low-risk, healthy U.S. mothers of healthy infants (N = 143) living in South Florida across six time points between 2 weeks and 14 months postpartum using the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, capturing stress related to the mother, mother-infant interactions, and the infant. Results. Maternal distress increased as infants aged for mothers with more than one child, but not for first-time mothers whose distress levels remained low and stable across this period. Stress related to mother-infant dysfunctional interactions lessened over the first 8 months. Mothers’ stress about their infants’ difficulties decreased from 2 weeks to 6 months, and subsequently increased from 6 to 14 months. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that maternal stress is dynamic across the first year after birth. The current study adds to our understanding of typical developmental patterns in early motherhood and identifies potential domains and time points as targets for future interventions.more » « less
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Abstract Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) after in‐utero opioid exposure remains a poorly understood condition with multiple factors contributing to severity. Exposure to maternal stress may be one contributing factor. Hair cortisol measurement represents a novel technique for assessing prenatal stress. In this pilot study, the association between maternal hair cortisol levels and NAS severity was examined in 70 postpartum women with opioid use disorder within 72 hr of delivery. Infants were monitored for NAS and treated according to institutional protocol. Forty‐four (63%) of the infants were pharmacologically treated for NAS, with a mean length of hospital stay (LOS) for all infants of 14.2 (
SD 9.0) days. The mean cortisol level in the mothers was 131.8 pg/mg (SD 124.7). In bivariate analysis, higher maternal hair cortisol levels were associated with shorter infant LOS (R = −.26,p = .03) and fewer infant opioid treatment days (R = −.28,p = .02). Results were no longer statistically significant in regression models after adjusting for maternal opioid and smoking. In conclusion, we demonstrated the feasibility of hair cortisol assaying within the first few days after delivery in mothers with opioid use disorder as a novel marker for NAS. The findings suggest that maternal stress may impact the severity of infant opioid withdrawal. -
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Abstract This study examined the direct and interactive effects of infants’ respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) during the first 6 months of life in the prediction of children's sleep problems at age 18 months. Participants included 156 children and their mothers who were followed from 3 to 18 months of age. At ages 3 and 6 months, infants’ cardiac activity was recorded at rest and during the still‐face paradigm, a mother–child social challenge task, and estimates of infant baseline RSA (RSAB) and RSA withdrawal (RSAW) were calculated. Mothers reported about their depressive symptoms at 3, 6, and 18 months, and about infants’ sleep problems at age 18 months. Less RSAW and higher levels of MDS predicted more sleep problems at age 18 months. Additionally, RSAB moderated the link between MDS and children's sleep problems such that MDS were related to more sleep problems only for infants with high levels of RSAB. Results illustrate the importance of RSA as both a direct predictor and a moderator of maternal influences in the prediction of early sleep problems.
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Buffered or impaired: Maternal anemia, inflammation and breast milk macronutrients in northern Kenyamore » « less
Abstract Background Maternal anemia has adverse consequences for the mother‐infant dyad. To evaluate whether and how milk nutrient content may change in ways that could “buffer” infants against the conditions underlying maternal anemia, this study assessed associations between milk macronutrients and maternal iron‐deficiency anemia (IDA), non‐iron‐deficiency anemia (NIDA), and inflammation.
Methods A secondary analysis of cross‐sectional data and milk from northern Kenya was conducted (
n = 204). The combination of hemoglobin and transferrin receptor defined IDA/NIDA. Elevated serum C‐reactive protein defined acute inflammation. The effects of IDA, NIDA, and inflammation on milk macronutrients were evaluated in regression models.Results IDA (β = 0.077,
p = .022) and NIDA (β = 0.083,p = .100) predicted higher total protein (ln). IDA (β = −0.293,p = .002), NIDA (β = −0.313,p = .047), and inflammation (β = −0.269,p = .007) each predicted lower fat (ln); however, anemia accompanying inflammation predictedhigher fat (β = 0.655,p = .007 for IDA and β = 0.468,p = .092 for NIDA). NIDA predicted higher lactose (β = 1.020,p = .003).Conclusions Milk macronutrient content both increases and decreases in the presence of maternal anemia and inflammation, suggesting a more complicated and dynamic change than simple impairment of nutrient delivery during maternal stress. Maternal fat delivery to milk may be impaired under anemia. Mothers may buffer infant nutrition against adverse conditions or poor maternal health by elevating milk protein (mothers with IDA/NIDA), lactose (mothers with NIDA), or fat (mothers with anemia
and inflammation). This study demonstrates the foundational importance of maternal micronutrient health and inflammation or infection for advancing the ecological understanding of human milk nutrient variation.
