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

www.growingfactspodcast.com
Email: [email protected]
IG: growing_facts_podcast
Facebook: Growing Facts Podcast
Tiktok: growingfactspodcast

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

Content warning: miscarriage, still-birth

Shalaka is starting her IVF treatment with injections (ugh!), and talks about the side effects associated. They discuss how complicated it can be to disclose your pregnancy, and how miscarriage is still a taboo, and how fertility/infertility is such a sensitive issue. 

www.growingfactspodcast.com
Email: [email protected]
IG: growing_facts_podcast
Facebook: Growing Facts Podcast
Tiktok: growingfactspodcast

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

Today’s episode features an interview with Dr. Ashley Wazana, a child psychiatrist and researcher on prenatal stress (and Shalaka’s thesis supervisor!). The episode aims to answer the question: What is prenatal programming?
The interview covers:
-how influences during pregnancy can affect child development after birth
-why this research is important
-who conducts this kind of research, and how they do it
-some of the big questions being investigated right now in the field

In the post-interview discussion (33:42), Alyson and Shalaka discuss how this research can influence actual parenting practices.

Dr. Wazana - Lady Davis Research Institute
http://www.ladydavis.ca/en/ashleywazana
Prenatal research from Dr. Wazana’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

www.growingfactspodcast.com
Email: [email protected]
IG: growing_facts_podcast
Facebook: Growing Facts Podcast
Tiktok: growingfactspodcast

Logo design by Dale Byrns
Photo by Janko Ferlič
https://unsplash.com/@itfeelslikefilm
Music by lemonmusicstudio
https://pixabay.com/users/lemonmusicstudio-14942887/?tab=audio

Content warning: IVF, pregnancy

Meet the hosts of the Growing Facts podcast, Shalaka Shah and Alyson Baker. Shalaka is finishing her Ph.D. in child psychology and is trying to get pregnant by IVF. Alyson is a doctor specializing in internal medicine with a particular interest in obstetrical medicine, and is pregnant with twins. Episodes will alternate between science and pregnancy update episodes. Science episodes will feature an interview with a prenatal scientist about a different aspect of prenatal development. In the pregnancy update episodes, Alyson and Shalaka will discuss different social, cultural, and psychological factors that shape their experience of their pregnancy journeys.

In this episode, they talk about what motivated them to start this podcast, professionally and personally. They talk about why it’s so important to share scientific knowledge, and combat fear and misinformation. They also talk about where they are at in their pregnancy journeys, their intention to to be frank about how it feels to be (or try to be) pregnant, and the impact this has on their lives.

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

www.growingfactspodcast.com
Email: [email protected]
IG: growing_facts_podcast
Facebook: Growing Facts Podcast
Tiktok: growingfactspodcast


Logo design by Dale Byrns

Photo by Janko Ferlič
https://unsplash.com/@itfeelslikefilm
Music by lemonmusicstudio
https://pixabay.com/users/lemonmusicstudio-14942887/?tab=audio