A recent Austrian study states that women who have an anxiety disorder prior to becoming pregnant may deliver babies who cry excessively. While it makes intuitive sense that maternal anxiety has an effect on the anxiety levels of her baby, it is unclear what exactly is to blame. While a number of causal factors can be surmised, including the effect of maternal genes, the quality of the uterine environment, or the early mother-child interactions, it seems likely that all three factors may play at least some role in the early temperament of the child.
The impending arrival of a child is certainly a time that can be riddled with worries and uncertainties. Furthermore, the availability of the latest medical technology may not help quell these worries, but instead often ignites the generalized anxiety of the parents by offering newer and newer predictive and diagnostic testing. Likewise, if one has a particularly anxious baseline disposition, the added worries of an impending birth may lead to a certain omnipresent need to control as much as possible in the months preceding the arrival of the baby, and certainly, in the ensuing years.
What is important to remember is that while there are things that are within one's control, the arrival of a baby will almost certainly bring new and impossible-to-predict challenges that can often only be addressed "in the moment". The decision to actively learn to deal with one's anxiety before or even during the decision to have a child, can have an indelible effect on one's life, as learning to cope with an anxiety disorder doesn't only alleviate one's symptoms, but may play a crucial role in the characteristics of the future child.
The impending arrival of a child is certainly a time that can be riddled with worries and uncertainties. Furthermore, the availability of the latest medical technology may not help quell these worries, but instead often ignites the generalized anxiety of the parents by offering newer and newer predictive and diagnostic testing. Likewise, if one has a particularly anxious baseline disposition, the added worries of an impending birth may lead to a certain omnipresent need to control as much as possible in the months preceding the arrival of the baby, and certainly, in the ensuing years.
What is important to remember is that while there are things that are within one's control, the arrival of a baby will almost certainly bring new and impossible-to-predict challenges that can often only be addressed "in the moment". The decision to actively learn to deal with one's anxiety before or even during the decision to have a child, can have an indelible effect on one's life, as learning to cope with an anxiety disorder doesn't only alleviate one's symptoms, but may play a crucial role in the characteristics of the future child.
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