Maternal positive mental health during pregnancy impacts the hippocampus and functional brain networks in children

Positive mental health is an essential component of overall health and well-being. However, research in this area has been relatively neglected. This study used a longitudinal dataset to investigate the impact of maternal positive emotions during pregnancy on brain structure and function in 7.5-year-old children ( n = 381). A positive maternal mental health measure, including positive affect and emotional well-being during pregnancy, was developed through confirmatory factor analysis of questionnaires administered at 26–28 weeks. The study found that girls born to mothers who reported greater positive mental health during pregnancy showed larger bilateral hippocampi. Furthermore, children of mothers with greater positive mental health exhibited altered functional connectivity of several networks, including default mode, salience, executive control, amygdala and thalamo-hippocampal networks. These findings extend the study of maternal mental health beyond maternal psychopathology, suggesting the importance of promoting positive maternal mental health during pregnancy as a potential protective factor for offspring brain development.