Babies born to mothers who suffered Covid-19 disease during pregnancy seem to present differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes in 6 weeks, according to an analysis presented at the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry.
Project Leader Dr Rosa Ayesa Arriola, however said that “not all babies born to mothers infected with Covid show neurodevelopmental differences, but our data shows that their risk is increased in comparison to those not exposed to Covid in the womb. We need a bigger study to confirm the exact extent of the difference.”
While investigating, the scientists found that babies born to mothers who had been infected show greater difficulties in relaxing and adapting their bodies when they are being held when compared to infants from non-infected mothers, especially when the infection took place in late pregnancy. Moreover, infants born from infected mothers tend to show greater difficulty in controlling head and shoulder movement. These alterations suggest a possible Covid-19 effect on motor function.
The initial evaluation compared babies born to 21 Covid-positive pregnant women and their babies, with 21 healthy controls attending the Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital in Santander, Spain. During the assessment, the mothers underwent a series of tests during and after pregnancy.
These included hormonal and other biochemical tests (measuring such things as cortisol levels, immunological response, etc.) salivary tests, movement responses, and psychological questionnaires. All analyses were adjusted for infant age, sex, and other factors.
Meanwhile, the post-natal tests included Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), which measures baby’s movement and behaviour.
“We found that certain elements of the NBAS measurement were changed in 6-week-old infants who had been exposed to the SARS-COV-2 virus. Effectively they react slightly differently to being held, or cuddled,” Researcher Agueda Castro Quintas (University of Barcelona, Network Centre for Biomedical Research in Mental Health), said.
According to the scientists, these findings reinforce evidence of epigenetic alterations in infants born from mothers exposed to pandemic-related stress during pregnancy.