The Maternal-Fetal Medicine Blog » 10 weeks

Pregnant women develop emotion-reading superpowers

Chukwuma — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:56:00 +0000

Raging hormones during pregnancy prompt mood swings, but may also lead to a heightened ability to recognize threatening or aggressive faces. This may have evolved because it makes future mothers hyper-vigilant, yet it could also make them more vulnerable to anxiety.

Previous studies have suggested that a woman's ability to correctly identify fearful or disgusted facial expressions varies according to her stage of the menstrual cycle, with perception heightened on days associated with high levels of the hormone progesterone. Since levels of progesterone and other hormones rise dramatically in late pregnancy, Rebecca Pearson and her colleagues at the University of Bristol in the UK investigated whether the ability to read faces varies during pregnancy.

They asked 76 pregnant women to assign one of six emotions to 60 computer-generated faces before the 14th week of pregnancy, and again after the 34th week. Faces expressing happiness and surprise tended to be correctly assigned at both stages of pregnancy, but for faces expressing fear, anger and disgust, the accuracy rates were higher in late pregnancy.

This may increase the chance that the woman will spot potential threats to her and her fetus, and prime her to be hyper-vigilant once she becomes a mother. But it could have a downside. Pearson points out that people with clinical anxiety are also better at identifying negative emotions in faces. Pregnant women aren't clinically anxious, but "they might interpret negative or emotional things around them in a slightly more sensitive way", she says.

The finding builds on a recent study by Ben Jones of the University of Aberdeen in the UK who found that pregnant women - and women in stages of the menstrual cycle where progesterone levels spike - are better at identifying faces showing signs of sickness. "It's preventing them from becoming sick by interacting with people who are ill," he says.

The next step will be to examine whether pregnant women and new mothers are also more sensitive to emotional cues in babies' faces, Jones says.

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FDA Updates Warning for Pregnant Women on Antiepileptic Drugs

Chukwuma — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:01:00 +0000

The FDA has issued a statement reminding patients and doctors that valproate sodium, valproic acid, and divalproex products increase the risk of birth defects in babies exposed to the chemicals during pregnancy.

The medications - used to treat epilepsy since 1978 and more recently for bipolar disorder and migraine - can cause neural tube defects, craniofacial defects, and cardiovascular malformations in unborn children during the first trimester. This is often before many women know they are pregnant, the FDA said in a statement.

Use of the products increases neural tube defects during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy from one in 1,500 to one in 20, on average, the FDA noted.

Babies born to women taking valproate for epilepsy are more than three times as likely to have birth defects as those born to women on a different therapy (10.7%, 95% CI 6.3% to 16.9% versus 2.9%, 95% CI 2.0% to 4.1%), according to data from the North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry.

The FDA cautioned women of childbearing potential to take valproate only if it is essential for managing a medical condition. Those taking the drug who are not planning pregnancy should use contraception, the agency said.

Women planning to become pregnant can reduce the risk of congenital neural tube defects by taking folic acid before and during the first trimester of pregnancy, the FDA noted.

The agency also noted a danger to pregnant mothers and their child if epilepsy or bipolar disorder is left untreated while the baby is developing. Likewise, it reminded doctors and patients of a major risk associated with ceasing valproate therapy suddenly.

The FDA recommended that women talk with healthcare professionals before stopping use of valproate products if they become pregnant.

It also recommended women who become pregnant while taking valproate or other antiepileptic drugs enroll in the North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry to help gather more information on the safety of the medications during pregnancy.

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