Association between maternal stress patterns and neonatal meconium microbiota: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUNDThis study aimed to identify maternal stress patterns and investigate their associations with neonatal meconium microbiota.

METHODSA total of 465 pregnant women reported their stress conditions, including depression, anxiety, pregnancy-related anxiety, perceived stress, sleep, fear of birth, life events, and adverse childhood experiences. Meconium samples were collected from 348 newborns. Latent class analysis was used to identify the patterns of maternal stress.

RESULTSThree group profiles were identified: "high negative emotion," "high ACEs-low negative emotion," and "low stress." the high ACEs-low negative emotion group and low stress group had higher levels of Chao1 diversity than the high negative emotion group (B = 0.25, P < 0.001; B = 0.18, P < 0.001, respectively). The high ACEs-low negative emotion group had higher levels of Chao1 diversity than the low stress group (B = 0.08, P = 0.001). The variations were observed in the abundance of Bacteroidetes, unidentified_Muribaculaceae, unclassified_Lachnospiraceae, unclassified_Clostridiales, unidentified_Bacteroidales, Oscillospira, and Ruminococcus among different maternal stress patterns.

LIMITATIONSWe did not analyze maternal microbiome samples and assessed the gut microbiota at only one time point.

CONCLUSIONSThese findings emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach to prenatal care that extends beyond traditional medical interventions. Addressing maternal stress through targeted support and interventions may help newborns benefit from a more favorable gut microbiota landscape.