ArticleArchives of women's mental health2023
The microbiota-gut-brain axis and perceived stress in the perinatal period.
Article in Archives of women's mental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Maternal Prenatal Stress and the Offspring Gut Microbiome: A Cross-Species Systematic Review.Developmental psychobiology · 2025Pooled it
- Parental microbiome programming of early-life neurodevelopment: multi-niche contributions through the microbiome-gut-brain axis.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Gut microbiome and pregnancy complications: emerging evidence and mechanistic insights.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- The microbiota-gut-brain axis in postpartum depression: a review of microbial mechanisms and therapeutic potential.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Associations between psychological or biological stress indicators and gut microbiota in pregnant women - findings from a prospective longitudinal study.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Investigating the Microbiome in Relation to Mental Distress Across Two Points During Pregnancy: Data From U.S. and Swedish Cohorts.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Interactions of the maternal microbiome with diet, stress, and infection influence fetal development.The FEBS journal · 2025Review
- Article
- Supplementary approaches to perinatal depression: a review of pathogenesis, herbal interventions, and dietary supplements.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- Stress and depression-associated shifts in gut microbiota: A pilot study of human pregnancy.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- Intestinal microbiome and maternal mental health: preventing parental stress and enhancing resilience in mothers.Communications biology · 2024Article
- The Maternal Microbiome as a Map to Understanding the Impact of Prenatal Stress on Offspring Psychiatric Health.Biological psychiatry · 2024Review
- Article
- DNA metabarcoding technology for the identification of the fecal microbiome in patients with chronic stress.Health psychology research · 2024Article
- Diet and the gut microbiota-immune axis in the context of perinatal mental health: Protocol for a prospective cohort study.Women's health (London, England)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Perinatal perceived stress can contribute to worse health outcomes for the parent-child dyad. Given the emerging relationship between the microbiota-gut-brain axis and stress, this study sought to elucidate connections between bowel symptoms and the gut microbiome in relation to perceived stress at three time points in the perinatal period: two during pregnancy and one postpartum. Ninety-five pregnant individuals participated in a prospective cohort study from April 2017 to November 2019. Researchers assessed Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS); bowel symptoms (according to the IBS Questionnaire); psychiatrist assessment of new onset or exacerbated depression and anxiety; and fecal samples analyzed for alpha diversity (measures of gut microbiome diversity utilizing Shannon, Observed OTUs, and Faith's PD) at each timepoint. Covariates included weeks of gestation and weeks postpartum. PSS scores were divided into "Perceived Self-Efficacy" and "Perceived Helplessness." Increased gut microbial diversity was associated with decreased bowel symptoms, decreased overall perceived stress, increased ability to cope with adversity, and decreased distress in the postpartum period. This study found a significant association between a less diverse microbial community, lower self-efficacy early in pregnancy, and greater bowel symptoms and perceived helplessness later in the perinatal period, relationships that may ultimately point to novel diagnostic methods and interventions for perceived stress based on the microbiota-gut-brain axis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.