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A mother's stress can spread to her baby in the womb and may cause a lasting effect, German researchers propose, BBC reports.

They have seen that a receptor for stress hormones appears to undergo a biological change in the unborn child if the mother is highly stressed, for example, because of a violent partner. And this change may leave the child less able to handle stress themselves.

Thomas Elbert, one of the lead researchers at the University of Konstanz, said: "It would appear that babies who get signals from their mum that they are being born into a dangerous world are faster responders. They have a lower threshold for stress and seem to be more sensitive to it."

It has already been linked to mental illness and behavioral problems.

（點擊BBC網站查看原文）

母親的壓力會傳給胎兒

???????母親的壓力會傳給還在子宮中的胎兒，并對其產生長遠的影響。

???????據英國廣播公司報道，德國研究人員發現，如果母親因伴侶施暴等原因而承受較大的壓力，胎兒的應激激素受體就會產生生物性變化，從而導致其抗壓能力減弱。

???????康斯坦茨大學的托馬斯·埃爾伯特教授是該研究的帶頭人之一。他說：“從母親那里得到他們將要來到一個危險世界的暗示后，胎兒長大后的應激反應就會很快。他們很容易感受到壓力，對壓力異常敏感。”

???????目前，該發現已被用來研究精神疾病和行為問題。

(China.org.cn July 21, 2011)