What are the effects of prenatal care on the fetus?

One type is clear and hard effects directly related to physiological development, and the other type is long-term soft effects on neurobehavior that are supported by relevant research but still subject to academic controversy.

Let’s not talk about overly complicated theories. Let’s just say that I met an expectant mother who was 26 weeks pregnant in the clinic last month. She had been working out of town and had not had regular prenatal check-ups. The first time she went for a systematic ultrasound, it was found that the fetus had mild ventricular enlargement. We quickly adjusted her diet, supplemented necessary nutrients, and made an appointment for ultrasound follow-up every two weeks. By the time of the checkup at 36 weeks, the enlargement had been completely absorbed. If Without timely intervention, it is very likely that the child will face the risk of hydrocephalus treatment after birth. This is the most typical physiological impact - whether it is malformation screening, nutritional guidance, intrauterine hypoxia monitoring or control of pregnancy complications, they all directly support the fetal organ development and physiological health.

Compared with actual physiological effects, another type of soft influence has been increasingly discussed in recent years, and the controversy is not small. Many follow-up studies have shown that regular non-medical prenatal care such as emotional counseling and moderate sensory prenatal education during pregnancy will reduce the probability of children suffering from emotional disorders and sleep disorders after birth, and they will be more adaptable to the environment. However, many scholars have pointed out that the current research cannot completely separate the interference of genetics and acquired upbringing environment, and cannot directly equate these characteristics with prenatal care. We previously followed up a mother who insisted on attending prenatal psychology classes throughout her pregnancy. She had almost no serious anxiety throughout her pregnancy. The baby rarely cried for long periods of time without reason before half a year old. The introduction of complementary feeding was much smoother than that of children of the same age. We will tell the expectant mother who consults about the positive effects of this type of care, but we will never exaggerate it. After all, the development of a child is the result of multiple factors.

To put it bluntly, prenatal care is like the first “life preparation” for the fetus. Visible physical health is the foundation, and invisible emotional and cognitive preparations are the icing on the cake. We are currently following up with more long-term tracking data, hoping to understand the boundaries between these two types of influences more clearly.