Neuroendocrine Modulation In Early Pregnancy And It’s Psychological Impact: A Theoretical Review For Preventive Care

Early pregnancy is marked by the neuroendocrine shifts that helps the body in gestation but imbalance can lead to psychological vulnerability. The review explores the intricate interplay of neuroendocrine mechanisms that influence the maternal mental health during the first trimester by integration of biopsychosocial model (Engel,1977), HPA axis dysregulation theory (Glynn & Sandman, 2014), and fetal programming (O’Connor & Monk, 2016) during pregnancy. The insights developed through the theoretical and empirical evidence underline the urgent need for preventive, integrated mental health care during early pregnancy for healthy growth of the progeny. The stress during the pregnancy phase arises due to biological, psychological and social dimensions interplay of which influences the stress level affecting HPA axis increasing the cortisol levels in the body that inhibit the neuroendocrine system affecting the hormones and taking the mental health away. If the stressors intrinsic or extrinsic sustains it can lead to severe physiological reaction leading to altered DNA, pregnancy complications and affect fetal brain. Mentally the cortisol led to chances of depression and schizophrenia. Results suggest that the neuroendocrine changes in the first trimester profoundly impact the mental health of the expectant mother and lead to challenges in further trimesters. This requires further psychological screening and hormonal awareness as an integrated intervention into early antenatal care because preventive strategies can reduce maternal fetal morbidity and improve long term outcomes to the overall health for both expectant mothers and their developing foetus. With the proper physical and mental screening, integrative health services and the evidence-based interventions can be the preventive interventions to combat neuroendocrine challenges developed in expectant mothers. The self care regime can be the healthy for developing sense of connectedness between mother and foetus enhancing the subjective wellbeing through responsible behaviour by the expectant mother for healthy journey of child post birth.