Fresh studies highlight how a mother’s mental health during pregnancy influences her child’s cognitive outcomes and emotional wellbeing, with wider social factors also playing a crucial role.
Pregnancy is often framed as a time when women should simply stay calm and enjoy the moment, but the science suggests the reality is more complicated. Fresh research from Singapore, published in Psychological Medicine in 2026, found that a mother’s mental health during pregnancy is linked to her child’s early cognitive development and to the risk of depressive symptoms later in childhood.
That does not mean expectant mothers are supposed to feel cheerful at all times. Psychiatrists and obstetricians quoted by CNA Women said pregnancy can bring nausea, appetite changes, weight gain, back pain and other physical discomforts, alongside the emotional strain of preparing for a child who will depend on them completely. For many women, those pressures are compounded by paid work, long hours and the expectation to keep functioning as normal.
The broader research record points in the same direction. A study funded by the US National Institute of Mental Health found that mothers who experienced neglect or abuse in their own childhood were more likely to have poorer mental health during and after pregnancy, and that this was associated with higher anxiety and depression in their children at age 7.5 years. The same research also found weaker connectivity in brain regions involved in emotion regulation among children whose mothers had worse post-birth mental health.
Other studies have linked maternal depression with lower cognitive scores in very young children and with worse developmental outcomes in school-age children. A longitudinal study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry found that depressive symptoms during pregnancy and after birth were associated with lower cognitive scores in infants aged six to eight weeks, while a meta-analysis in Archives of Disease in Childhood reported lower cognitive scores in children aged 56 months or younger. A separate systematic review found that mental health problems during pregnancy or the postpartum period raised the likelihood of suboptimal cognitive, behavioural and socio-emotional development in school-age children.
Researchers and clinicians caution, however, against reducing the issue to a simple instruction for mothers to “be positive”. A paper in the Journal of Public Health argued that maternal mental health is a major determinant of child development, with effects that can reach into adolescence and educational attainment. It said the harms are shaped not only by stress and parenting difficulties, but also by wider social disadvantage. Another study in The British Journal of Psychiatry found that while treating maternal depression can benefit children, it does not remove all the associated risks, because many children are also exposed to other pressures linked to their mother’s mental health.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
