ABSTRACT
Maternal depression negatively affects infants as early as the neonatal period, implicating prenatal effects of maternal depression. This is discussed in the first section of this chapter. As early as birth, the infants show a profile of dysregulation in their behavior, physiology, and biochemistry, which probably derives from prenatal exposure to a biochemical imbalance in their mothers. These effects are compounded by the disorganizing influence of the mothers’ interaction behavior.
