Prenatal Nutrition and Maternal Stress: Impact on Baby’s Growth and Brain Development
Official title: Nurishing Beginnings: The Role of Prenatal Nutrition in Offsetting Stress-Related Developmental Risks
Funded at Women and Infants Hospital-Rhode Island · NIH-11490335 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses data from a large pregnancy study to see how a mom’s stress and nutrition during pregnancy together affect a child’s growth and early brain development.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Women and Infants Hospital-Rhode Island NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2026 |
| Project end | June 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $248,999 |
| NIH project number | 4R00HD110651-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11490335 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Pregnant people enrolled in the ENAT trial and their offspring, with data available through 24 months.
✕Less likely to help
Pregnant individuals not enrolled in ENAT or with incomplete data may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
Expectant mothers in a large trial received either enhanced nutrition or standard care. The study will look at how maternal stress and nutrition interact to influence a child’s cognitive and neural development by age 24 months. Researchers will analyze child outcomes such as attention, memory, language, and neural maturation using EEG and biological samples from mothers and babies. The work aims to identify biological pathways linking prenatal stress and nutrition to long-term child health. If successful, findings could inform better nutritional and stress-management supports for pregnant people.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: It could lead to better guidelines and interventions to support healthy brain development in children from early pregnancy.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research has shown associations between prenatal factors and child development, but this study specifically examines the interaction of stress and nutrition with neural measures, which is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Women and Infants Hospital-Rhode Island
Providence, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Jensen, Sarah Kathinka Georg — Women and Infants Hospital-Rhode Island
- Study coordinator: Jensen, Sarah Kathinka Georg
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.