Hypothyroidism in pregnant mothers linked to ADHD in their children

Low levels of key, body-regulating chemicals in mothers during the first three months of pregnancy may interfere with the baby's brain development, a large American study shows.

These chemicals, or hormones, are produced in the thyroid gland in the neck and are known to influence fetal growth. Investigators have suspected that disruptions in their production, or hypothyroidism, may contribute to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder of children in the U.S.

Among the study findings were that once a pregnancy had reached the second trimester, a woman's hypothyroidism had little effect on her children. A possible explanation is that by this point, the fetus has begun to produce its own thyroid hormones and so is less vulnerable to its mother's deficiencies.

[Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201021085107.htm]

At normal situation, vaginal delivery is recommended to pregnant females who are at low risk of complications. Recently, there is a widespread discussion about the right of the women in choosing their childbirth methods, specifically cesarean section.

In order to designated to critically discuss the ethical argument on female’s choice of childbirth method as well as the influential factors involved in their decision-making process, Leixi Li and Wenlin Wan made a research on the women's decision-making process of childbirth methods and the research paper was published at the journal of Nursing.

They found that most women would like to have the freedom in selecting the delivery method, whereas the decision-making process is complicated and multifactorial and needs to coordinate with safety issues, opinions from family members, and recommendations from doctors.

The authors think that the decision-making process for determining the childbirth method depends on the balance among females’ autonomy, family’s suggestions, obstetrician’s obligation, and legal protection of the doctor.

Read the full paper at :

http://nursing.usp-pl.com/index.php/Nursing/article/view/173