Grant: Project Grant

Mental health problems in mothers may affect the health of their children as they grow. Mental health conditions in mothers may affect the way they care for their children, increasing the risk of preventable health problems. More and more studies show that women with poor mental health have a greater risk of delivering preterm. Preterm birth, or birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, increases a child's chance of having health problems later in life. However, it is not clear if poor mental health in mothers has a direct impact on childhood health, or if it interacts with preterm birth to increase the vulnerability of children to later health problems. This project aims to determine what maternal mental health problems could be targeted early in the lives of mothers to prevent future diseases in their children, especially if they were born preterm. We will use a dataset containing hospital data for all newborns in Quebec, Canada between 2006 and 2016 and will track infants over time. We will identify mothers with mental health conditions before or during pregnancy. We will follow infants for up to 11 years after birth and identify those who were born preterm and those hospitalized later in childhood. We will determine the association of maternal mental health conditions with the risk of preterm birth and childhood diseases, and how preterm birth influences the relationship between maternal mental health problems and childhood diseases. This project will generate new knowledge by identifying maternal mental health problems associated with preterm birth and later childhood diseases. We will find what mental health conditions could be targeted early in life to prevent later adverse outcomes in children. The data will help physicians improve their care of vulnerable mothers and infants, and will influence prevention and care guidelines.