Posted on 26/10/2020

Toxic stress before birth: paths to personalized intervention

Multiple empirical studies have shown that a maternal history of antenatal trauma such as maltreatment and/or family violence can be toxic to the developing brain of the child before and after birth; this phenomenon is called toxic stress.

Fondation Dora is supporting a pilot research study to identify the foetuses and infants most at risk for toxic stress and to provide the parents with referral services for their infant's mental health and development. 

Given the current dilemma of the CoVid-19 pandemic, which may increase the risk for toxic stress in a host of possible ways during pregnancy and postnatally, this research study is including measures to examine the question of how those foetuses and infants who may already be at risk for toxic stress, as well as their parents, are coping with this added dimension of early adversity. 

This study is conducted by infant mental health clinicians of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in cooperation with the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston, USA. If successful, it could lead to a large state-of-the-art screening program to meet the needs of this vulnerable population.