Is there a connection between women's health during pregnancy and autism? This study debunks myth

A new research has challenged recent findings that suggest a direct correlation between maternal sickness during pregnancy and the risk of autism in the child. While autism reportedly effects about 1 in 36 children in the US, the precise causes behind the neurodevelopmental condition remains unknown.

The new study

The new study conducted by the New York-based NYU Langone Health found “no convincing evidence” that a mother contracting an infection, struggling with depression or undergoing any other health issue could be the direct cause of autism in the child, the New York Post reported.

Autism is a group of complex neurodevelopmental conditions that is characterised by difficulty in social interactions, repetitive behaviours and sensory sensitivities (e.g. to lights, sounds) , among other such traits.


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Senior study author Magdalena Janecka stated that the researchers found no association between individual diagnostic codes for maternal infection and a child's autism diagnosis. However, she noted that they cannot definitively rule out maternal infection as a potential cause of autism.

1.1 million people analysed

The study involved the analysis of over 1.1 million Danish pregnancies. Janecka, who is an associate professor in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry department and the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, stated that Denmark's registry data is more comprehensive and better organised compared to the American system.

The research team focused on 236 maternal conditions recorded in the Danish health records. They were then able to attribute most of the children's autism to factors such as the mother's age during pregnancy and genetics, as reported by The New York Post.

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Elaborating on this, the researchers explained that if a child is diagnosed with autism after the mother experienced depression during pregnancy, it is more likely that both the mother and child share genes that caused both conditions, rather than the depression causing autism in the developing foetus.

FAQs

1. What is autism?
Autism is a group of complex neurodevelopmental conditions that is characterised by difficulty in social interactions, repetitive behaviours and sensory sensitivities.

2. How do studies associate autism in children to health issues in mothers?
Several recent studies suggest that there is a direct correlation between maternal sickness during pregnancy and the risk of autism in the child.