Prenatal Antecedents of Newborn Neurological Maturation

  1. Janet A. DiPietro,
  2. Katie T. Kivlighan,
  3. Kathleen A. Costigan,
  4. Suzanne E. Rubin,
  5. Dorothy E. Shiffler,
  6. Janice L. Henderson,
  7. Joseph P. Pillion

Article first published online: 4 FEB 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01384.x

Issue

Child Development

Child Development

Volume 81, Issue 1, pages 115–130, January/February 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

DiPietro, J. A., Kivlighan, K. T., Costigan, K. A., Rubin, S. E., Shiffler, D. E., Henderson, J. L. and Pillion, J. P. (2010), Prenatal Antecedents of Newborn Neurological Maturation. Child Development, 81: 115–130. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01384.x

Author Information

  1. Johns Hopkins University

* concerning this article should be addressed to Janet A. DiPietro, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., W1033 Baltimore, MD 21205. Electronic mail may be sent to jdipietr@jhsph.edu.

  1. This research was supported by NIH/NICHD Grant R01 HD27592 to the first author. Newborn evoked potential data collection was supported by a research grant equipment loan from Intelligent Hearing Systems, Miami, FL. We thank Rafael Irizarry, Department of Biostatistics, for his contribution to the original design of the fetal protocol, and Kristen Byrnes, for her assistance with Dubowitz training and administration. We remain indebted to the diligent and generous support of our study families, without which this work would not be possible.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 4 FEB 2010
  2. Article first published online: 4 FEB 2010

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Fetal neurobehavioral development was modeled longitudinally using data collected at weekly intervals from 24 to 38 weeks gestation in a sample of 112 healthy pregnancies. Predictive associations between 3 measures of fetal neurobehavioral functioning and their developmental trajectories to neurological maturation in the first weeks after birth were examined. Prenatal measures included fetal heart rate (FHR) variability, fetal movement, and coupling between fetal motor activity and heart rate patterning; neonatal outcomes include a standard neurologic examination (n = 97) and brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP; n = 47). Optimality in newborn motor activity and reflexes was predicted by fetal motor activity, FHR variability, and somatic–cardiac coupling predicted BAEP parameters. Maternal pregnancy-specific psychological stress was associated with accelerated neurologic maturation.

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