4. How do natural disasters affect pregnancy? With Dr. David Laplante

Growing Facts Podcast

Today’s episode features an interview with Dr. David Laplante, a prenatal stress researcher, who helps us answer the question: How do natural disasters affect pregnancy? The interview covers:
-the effect of exposure to this kind of stress during pregnancy on child cognitive development, mental health, and behaviours
-Project Ice Storm
-”objective” vs “subjective” exposure to hardship and the role of individual responses to stress
-maternal stress during Covid-19
-how to support pregnant women during natural disasters
In the post-interview discussion (25:50), Alyson and Shalaka contextualize statistics, talk about the differences between objective and subjective hardship, and how to prioritize the care of pregnant people during stressful events.
Citations
Effect of Natural Disaster-Related Prenatal Maternal Stress on Child Development and Health: A Meta-Analytic Review
Stress During Pregnancy Affects General Intellectual and Language Functioning in Human Toddlers
Diaster-Related Prenatal Maternal Stress Explains Increasing Amounts of Variance In Body Composition Through Childhood and Adolescence
Links
http://dreambigresearch.com/
https://www.mcgill.ca/spiral/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Laplante

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Prenatal research from Shalaka’s lab and the DREAM BIG consortium:
Dreambigresearch.com
Prenatal Stress and Child Development book (2021):
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-60159-1
Logo design by Dale Byrns
Initial podcast consultation provided by Zoé Gagnon-Paquin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-g-p/
Sound production consultation provided by Fox Valley Audio
Photo by Janko Ferlič
https://unsplash.com/@itfeelslikefilm
Music by lemonmusicstudio
https://pixabay.com/users/lemonmusicstudio-14942887/?tab=audio