Treating Prenatal Depression with Talk Therapy Benefits Infant Brain Development, Study Finds

A study published in Nature Communications revealed that treating depression in pregnant women with short talk therapy sessions called MOMCare positively shapes infant brain development.

Infants whose mothers received MOMCare therapy showed a 5% smaller hippocampal volume at birth, an area associated with learning, memory, and emotional regulation.

Follow-up assessments at six months indicated that infants with smaller hippocampal volumes tended to exhibit stronger emotional regulation during unfamiliar stress tasks.