Cerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination but don't worsen over time. Most children with cerebral palsy are born with the condition and its early signs usually surface before a child's third birthday.

A new study in France revealed that chronic mild stress in pregnant mothers may worsen the risk of cerebral palsy in their born babies.

According to Pierre Gressens, MD, PhD:

"Determining the impact of gestational stress on the incidence of cerebral palsy would be of paramount interest. Limiting stress during human pregnancy might prove to be a cost-efficient way to reduce the human, emotional, social and economic burden of cerebral palsy."

The research team led by Pierre Gressens, MD, PhD, of Inserm in France, used a mouse model to test whether exposure to minimal but repeated stress throughout gestation would make the offspring more vulnerable to brain lesions similar to those observed in children with cerebral palsy.

This should remind women to seek a stress-free life when pregnant. Pregnancy is a delicate stage in a woman's life and as a mother I for one do not want to blame myself later when it was something I could have changed in pregnancy that could have prevented a condition my child is born with.

The study's findings are published in the July 11 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Find more details from the full report.