How stress and support during pregnancy affect your baby’s health and development
Resilience to prenatal stress: Implications for offspring health and neurodevelopment
['FUNDING_OTHER'] · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · NIH-11319110
This project looks at whether good nutrition and strong social support before and during pregnancy help protect babies from the effects of prenatal stress.
Quick facts
| Phase | ['FUNDING_OTHER'] |
|---|---|
| Study type | Nih_funding |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH (nih funded) |
| Locations | 1 site (PITTSBURGH, UNITED STATES) |
| Trial ID | NIH-11319110 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this research studies
You would join an ongoing long-term group of women from the Pittsburgh Girls Study who are followed from before pregnancy through their child’s early years. Researchers combine existing preconception information with pregnancy interviews, nutrition measures, social support questionnaires, biological samples, and child development tests to track health and brain development. The team will compare how different levels of stress, nutrition, and connectedness relate to placental biology and later child behavior and learning. Community stakeholders help guide the work to keep it relevant to families.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are pregnant people or those planning pregnancy who are members of the Pittsburgh Girls Study/ECHO cohort, especially individuals with histories of chronic stress or financial strain.
Not a fit: People who are not pregnant, not planning pregnancy, or outside the Pittsburgh Girls Study enrollment area are unlikely to receive direct benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to practical ways—like improving diet or social support—to reduce the harm prenatal stress can have on children’s health and development.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies link prenatal stress to child outcomes and suggest nutrition and social support can help, but this large preconception-to-child follow-up focusing on resilience is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
PITTSBURGH, UNITED STATES
- UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH — PITTSBURGH, UNITED STATES (ACTIVE)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: HIPWELL, ALISON E — UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- Study coordinator: HIPWELL, ALISON E
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.