A small study shows that the new crown epidemic may slow down the development of babies

No significant difference between the two groupsThe ability to communicate and solve problems

Published in the Journal of Pediatrics of the American Medical AssociationToday, researchers found that 6-month-old babies during the pandemic score slightly lower in motor and social skills, as their mothers reported in a widely used developmental assessment.

The chief investigator saidDani Dumitriu of Columbia University Pediatrics Hospital saidHe believes that parental pressure may be one of the reasons for this gap

"At 6 months of age, babies are extremely malleable, and their brains are ready to return to their neurodevelopmental track

They said that the interpretation of the results should be cautious

Some previous studies have focused on the development of babies during the pandemic

August 2021 preprintResearchers from Brown University have not yet conducted a peer review.

The research team compared these babies with 62 babies born in one of the hospitals two years before the pandemic

Its 30 questions assess athletic ability, communication skills, problem-solving skills, and personal social skills, such as whether babies will turn their heads to loud noises, reach out to say hello, or roll from their backs to their stomachs

Researchers found that babies born between March and December 2020 have significantly lower fine motor skills and gross motor skills, as well as their personal social scores (depending on whether the baby is talking to himself in the mirror or interacting with strangers) Born in preschool children

The babies with the lowest scores were babies born to mothers in the first trimester of pregnancy during the first peak of the New York City pandemic, which the research team defined as the period from March 7 to April 6, 2020

Scientists say this suggests that mother’s stress is a possible mechanism and is consistent with previous findingsMaternal stress during early pregnancy?Than the stress of late pregnancybabySocial emotional function

Some scientists are skeptical

McGill University (McGill University) Kim developmental psychologist Suzanne (Suzanne King) said: "They all groups sample size is very small, can not be compared arrive at their conclusions are based on population

She said: "Do we think they are using a historical control group is [a good comparison], even when making statistical adjustments, I'm not sure

In the pandemic group, there was no difference in neurodevelopment between 114 babies born to mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy and 141 babies born to mothers who were not infected with COVID-19.
Other researchresult.

"We are surprised

?Can't find any signalhintExposed to?Covid?The uterus is related to neurodevelopmental defects
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"This is really important and reassuring
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"

But other scientists also hesitated about this discovery
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"This study does not prove that COVID is not harmful to the future development of children
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Wood said: "Vaccinations during pregnancy are very important
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Overall, O’Connor said, this study highlights a key fact: “We need to consider risk exposure during a pandemic, not just a virus
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”