An attentive mother plays a crucial role in shaping a child’s brain and overall development.

When we look closely at today’s society, growing concerns about children’s emotional regulation, learning abilities, and mental health are becoming increasingly evident.

On popular social media platforms such as Threads, many individuals openly share personal stories of growing up in underprivileged family environments and living with the long-term emotional effects of childhood trauma.

Nature versus nurture

These real-life narratives bring us back to a long-standing scientific discussion: nature versus nurture.

While our DNA provides the biological blueprint we are born with, our environment determines how that blueprint is read and expressed.

This interaction is explained through epigenetics, a field of science that shows how life experiences, such as childhood maltreatment, can influence gene expression without altering the DNA sequence itself.

Such changes can affect brain development, emotional regulation, stress responses, and mental health throughout life.

Recent research suggests that women who experienced childhood trauma may face greater difficulties regulating their emotions during pregnancy.

This period is characterised by remarkable physical changes, emotional fluctuations, uncertainties, and continuous biological adjustments.

When past trauma intersects with these changes, the maternal stress response may become overly activated, increasing vulnerability to emotional distress and potentially influencing the developing foetus.

This heightened sensitivity can be understood through the lens of emotional regulation, which refers to the ability to recognise emotions as they arise, monitor their intensity, and manage how they are expressed.

Emotional dysregulation

When this process is disrupted, emotional dysregulation may occur, leading to heightened emotional reactivity, overwhelming negative feelings, and a greater tendency to adopt maladaptive coping strategies.

Emotional dysregulation has been linked to a higher vulnerability to anxiety and depression during pregnancy and the early postpartum period.

This suggests that unresolved stress from early life does not simply fade with time. Instead, it may remain embedded in the brain as “imprint memories”, increasing a mother’s sensitivity to stress during pregnancy.

Nevertheless, maternal awareness offers hope. While we cannot choose the family we were born into, we can choose the kind of family we want to build.

By becoming attentive and informed mothers, women have the power to break cycles of trauma that have been silently carried across generations.

Mindfulness

During the perinatal period, mothers can take proactive steps to protect their mental and physical well-being by adopting effective stress-management strategies, such as mindfulness.

Mindfulness involves paying attention to the present moment with openness and without judgement.

Research suggests that mindfulness-based practice supports healthier emotional regulation and can moderate the association between maternal mental health and the quality of mother infant bonding.

Beyond emotional well-being, growing evidence highlights the importance of the gut-brain axis, which links diet, inflammation, and mental health to foetal brain development.

Stress experienced during pregnancy can influence a child’s gut microbiota composition and metabolic profile, with effects that may persist into early childhood, around 3-4 years of age.

This emerging understanding opens new possibilities for nutrition-based and lifestyle interventions that support healthier developmental outcomes.

Cravings for sugary or high-carbohydrate foods, especially desserts, are common during pregnancy.

Occasional indulgence may not cause serious health conditions. However, turning these cravings into daily habits may carry health risks, especially for mothers with gestational diabetes.

Mother’s nutritional intake

Since the developing baby relies entirely on the mother’s nutritional intake, balanced eating plays a crucial role in long-term health.

Sleep quality is equally important during this period. Adequate sleep maintains emotional balance and overall bodily function.

During sleep, the brain activates a natural cleansing system that removes metabolic waste and reduces inflammation.

Poor sleep during pregnancy has been linked to adverse outcomes, including potential effects on the baby’s hippocampus, a brain region essential for learning, memory, and emotional regulation.

Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia has been shown to be an effective, non-pharmacological approach to improving sleep and mood during the prenatal period.

To summarise, maternal well-being is not solely about the mother herself. It is deeply intertwined with the baby’s brain development and future health of the next generation.

An attentive mother is not defined by perfection, but by awareness and intention.

By taking care of mental health, nutrition, and sleep during pregnancy, mothers lay a healthier foundation not only for their children’s brains, but also for the well-being of future generations.

-- BERNAMA

Dr Fatin Haniza Zakaria is a researcher at the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She completed her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences from Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her research focuses on neuroscience.

Dr Fitri Fareez Ramli is a medical lecturer at the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He completed his DPhil in Psychiatry from the University of Oxford. His research focuses on emotional processing and neuropsychopharmacology.