babyA Bristol University had discovered that women who are under stress during pregnancy might lead to higher cortisol levels in children.



Past studies have shown stress in animals during pregnancy affects the body’s stress response system - the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis that controls stress hormone levels, including cortisol.



However, the scientists have not been able to show the same effects on humans but a US psychologist Dr Thomas O’Connor, from the University of Rochester in New York, have done similar findings on the children by monitoring their saliva during the mornings for the stress hormone.



It was reported that the children with high levels of cortisol in their saliva tended to be born to the mothers who reported the most stress during their pregnancy.



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