Tiffany Field

..Further studies of this kind are needed to determine the optimal course of therapy for the benefit of the depressed, breastfeeding mother and the breastfed infant...

..Their newborns were also less likely to be born prematurely and low birthweight, and they had lower cortisol levels and performed better on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment habituation, orientation and motor scales...

..Interaction coaching was used during the postnatal period to help these dyads with their interactions and ultimately facilitate the infants' development...

..The newborns of the depressed mothers also had more sleep disturbances including less time in deep sleep and more time in indeterminate (disorganized) sleep, and they were more active and cried/fussed more...

..Thus, depressed pregnant women with Dysthymia and Major Depression appeared to have different prenatal symptoms...

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..Further research is needed both on the potential use of cortisol as a screening measure and the use of other therapies that might reduce prenatal depression and cortisol in the women and prematurity and low birthweight in their infants...

..The infants of the dysthymia group mothers spent less time smiling and more time showing distress behaviors...

..Comorbid problems were chronically high anxiety, anger, sleep disturbance, and pain scores. Less optimal outcomes for the depressed women included lower gestational age and lower birthweight of their newborns...

..The stimulation of pressure receptors leads to increased vagal activity which, in turn, seems to mediate the diverse benefits noted for massage therapy...

..These data suggest that the depressed mothers and their infants not unlike the non-depressed mothers and their infants were benefited by breastfeeding...

..This profile was apparent across a narrow frequency range, which shifted from 3-9Hz at 1 week of age to 4-9Hz by 3 months of age...

..To identify whether prenatal depression is a risk factor for fetal growth restriction...

..To determine whether preterm infant massage leads to consistent increases in vagal activity and gastric motility and whether these increases are associated with greater weight gain...

..Further, most of the studies are based on within group changes rather than attention control group comparisons. Nonetheless, significant clinical improvements have been noted...

..Thus, the data highlight the effectiveness of group Interpersonal Psychotherapy and particularly when combined with massage therapy for reducing prenatal depression...

..The vibratory stimulation group also showed increased arousal, as indicated by increased heart rate and increased theta, alpha, and beta activity...

..These findings support a body of research showing the relaxing and sleep-inducing properties of lavender aroma...

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..Discriminant function analyses suggested that cortisol levels more accurately classified short gestation and low birthweight groups than CES-D depression scores...

..To determine if massage therapy increased serum insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in preterm neonates...

..To determine the immediate effects of a combined form of Tai chi/yoga...

..The heart rate of infants who received moderate pressure massage also returned to baseline faster than the heart rate of the other two groups, suggesting a faster recovery rate...

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..Their State Anxiety Inventory (STAI) anxiety levels also decreased, while the Profile of Mood States (POMS) depressed mood levels decreased significantly for all four groups following music...

..Multivariate, longitudinal research is needed to disentangle these confounding and mediating variables...

..On the other hand, those who received the light pressure massage exhibited a sympathetic nervous system response characterized by decreased HF and increased LF/HF...

..However, the similarity between the scores of depressed mothers and depressed fathers highlights the importance of screening for depression in fathers-to-be as well as mothers-to-be during pregnancy...

..They also scored less optimally on the cuddliness and hand-to-mouth activity items, suggesting they were more aroused. These data lend support to the model that infants of depressed mothers are more aroused and less attentive...

..More recent research assessed mood induction and physical intervention effects on these EEG activation patterns as well as their associated biochemistry and behavior...

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..This lesser attentiveness/responsiveness to other infants' cry sounds may predict their later lack of empathy...

..Thus, the moderate pressure massage therapy group appeared to be more relaxed and less aroused than the light pressure massage group which may have contributed to the greater weight gain of the moderate pressure massage therapy group...

..These findings suggest that neonates of depressed and non-depressed mothers show different EKG and EEG responses to instrumental music with versus without vocals...

..These studies highlight the relations between vagal activity and the social behaviors of attentiveness, facial expressions and vocalizations...

..In addition, the infants of intrusive vs. infants of withdrawn mothers showed increased salivary cortisol following the interactions, suggesting that they were more stressed by the interactions...

..Furthermore, our findings indicate that stimulating the mothers' feet, but not the hands, can evoke fetal activity in midgestation...

..However, those variables combined do not explain all of the variance in weight gain, highlighting the need for additional mechanism studies...

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..These were, in turn, correlated with each other and with, low back pain, leg pain, and sleep disturbance. These data suggest the stability of mood states and cortisol across pregnancy...

..The reduction in cortisol, in turn, may contribute to positive effects such as enhanced immune function and a lower prematurity rate...

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..These findings add to the growing literature showing that sucrose attenuates newborns' negative response to aversive or noxious stimuli...

..These data suggest that for some measures comorbidity of depression and anxiety is the worst condition (e.g., incidence of prematurity), while for others, comorbidity is no more impactful than depression alone...

..These data highlight the need for prenatal intervention for elevated anxiety symptoms during pregnancy...

..A discriminant function analysis based on the mothers' prenatal depression scores and biochemical measures correctly classified 74% of the women as greater relative right or left frontal EEG group members...

..These data highlight the need for prenatal intervention for elevated angry mood during pregnancy...

..Adolescents with high parent and high peer relationship scores had more friends, greater family togetherness, lower levels of depression and drug use, and a higher grade point average...

..In addition, a discriminant function analysis correctly classified 67% of the newborns' EEGs by prenatal maternal variables, suggesting that these might be used to target pregnant women for prenatal intervention...

..The data suggest that a specific cosmetic fragrance can have a significant role in enhancing relaxation...

..These findings highlight the benefit of these complementary therapies, most particularly massage therapy, for women with breast cancer...

..A program of research that links an intervention for prematurity with a predictor for prematurity, that is, massage therapy to reduce cortisol and, in turn, reduce prematurity, is then presented...

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..Cortisol effects are further complicated by its interaction with neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, which may itself...

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..One potential mechanism for these effects might involve massage-induced increases in vagal activity, which in turn may lead to increased gastric motility and thereby weight gain...

..These studies combined suggest the stress-alleviating effects (decreased cortisol) and the activating effects (increased serotonin and dopamine) of massage therapy on a variety of medical conditions and stressful experiences...

..Across the massage period the children also showed an improved clinical condition including less redness, lichenification, scaling, excoriation, and pruritus...

..Gestational age entered both analyses as the first variable followed by: (1) prenatal cortisol as a significant predictor of fetal activity; and (2) prenatal cortisol as a significant predictor of estimated fetal weight...

..Elevated prenatal maternal cortisol is the strongest predictor of these neonatal outcomes. Moderate pressure massage can alleviate these effects including reducing prematurity...

..This explained as much as 37% of the variance, suggesting that these factors are important contributors to relationship breakup distress...

..Finally, the scores of the depressed pregnant women on the stress questionnaires suggested greater depression (CES-D), anxiety (STAI), anger (STAXI), pregnancy anxieties (PAAS) and daily hassles...

..Early interventions reviewed here include psychotherapy and interaction coaching for the mothers, and infant massage for their infants...

..In addition, alternative therapies need to be explored for their potential antidepression effects on the pregnant woman, the fetus, and the neonate...

..Over the four-week period the massage group had a greater decrease in pain and a greater increase in grip strength as well as lower scores on anxiety, depressed mood and sleep disturbance scales...

..These findings suggest that 3-month-old infants of depressed mothers discriminate sad from happy expressions, however, they do not appear to perceive sad expressions as novel...