Maternal anxiety and neonatal wellbeing

The level of anxiety in 146 patients in their third trimester of pregnancy was established using the IPAT Anxiety Self-Analysis Form. The results were compared with physical status of the child as assessed by its five-minute apgar score. It was found that the apgar scores of babies born to highly-anxious mothers was significantly less than those born to mothers with normal anxiety scores. An association is proposed between maternal anxiety during pregnancy and future mental retardation and neurological abnormalities.