Stress From Childhood Affects Female Fertility
A woman's mental health during her pregnancy can influence the future health of her baby.
New findings published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology examine mechanisms by which adverse experiences in childhood impact female fertility.
The researchers related their findings to the hypothesis of life-history theory that talks about balancing the preservation of one's health as well as the production of offspring that can survive to reproduce themselves, theorizing how "early life stressors may predispose an individual to adaptively suppress fertility when situations are less than optimal, leading to periods of fertility difficulties even following previous births," according to a news release.
In this recent study, researchers examined 774 women of reproductive age. From the sample, 195 of the women were pregnant. The researchers analyzed fertility difficulties, menstrual cycle irregularities and adverse childhood experiences, via a mixture of in-person interviews and take-home questionnaires.
Following their research, the team came to the conclusion that those women who had experienced negative events at a young age -- such as "abuse, neglect, household dysfunction or parental substance abuse" -- were more likely to have faced ferility difficulties and abnormal absences from menstruation that lasted for three months or more. Furthermore, it also took a longer time to get pregnant. The research also suggests that certain events in childhood can be particularly harmful, with a greater impact on fertility.
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