Better Maternal CV Health Linked to Lower Risk of Developmental Delays in Children: JAMA
Maternal Healthcare
Japan: A cohort study involving mother–child pairs in Japan has found that better maternal cardiovascular health during pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of developmental delays in offspring at 4 years of age.
Mothers who maintained healthier cardiovascular profiles during pregnancy were more likely to have children with favorable developmental outcomes, highlighting the importance of optimizing maternal health before and during pregnancy. These findings suggest that promoting cardiovascular wellness in expectant mothers may contribute not only to maternal well-being but also to improved long-term neurodevelopmental health in children.
Published in JAMA Network Open, the study by Hisashi Ohseto and colleagues from Tohoku University examined the association between maternal cardiovascular health (CVH) during pregnancy and developmental delay in offspring at 4 years of age.
Researchers analyzed data from 8,238 mother–child pairs enrolled in the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study in Japan. Children were followed until a mean age of 4.1 years.
Maternal CVH was assessed using the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 metrics, covering diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep, body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure. Based on these scores, mothers were categorized as having high, moderate, or low CVH.
Child development was evaluated using the validated Japanese version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition (ASQ-3), which assesses communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and personal-social skills. Developmental delay was defined as impairment in at least one of these domains.
The study led to the following findings:
- Developmental delay was observed in 8.8% of children born to mothers with high cardiovascular health (CVH), 12.1% of those born to mothers with moderate CVH, and 16.8% of those born to mothers with low CVH.
- Compared with high maternal CVH, moderate maternal CVH during pregnancy was associated with a 30% higher risk of developmental delay in offspring at 4 years of age.
- Low maternal CVH during pregnancy was associated with a 62% higher risk of developmental delay compared with high maternal CVH.
- Poorer maternal CVH was linked to a higher likelihood of developmental delays across all five assessed developmental domains.
- The strongest association was observed for delays in personal-social development.
- The findings showed a progressive increase in developmental delay risk as maternal cardiovascular health worsened during pregnancy.
The authors acknowledged limitations, including potential selection bias, reliance on a parent-reported screening tool rather than clinical diagnosis, and the possibility that developmental outcomes may change over time, warranting longer follow-up.
Overall, the findings indicate that maintaining favorable cardiovascular health during pregnancy may play an important role in supporting healthy neurodevelopment in children and reducing the risk of developmental delays during early childhood.
Reference:
Ohseto H, Ishikuro M, Chen G, et al. Maternal Cardiovascular Health During Pregnancy and Offspring Developmental Delay. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(6):e2618804. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.18804
Next Story