International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Babies who are six months old become stressed out when they do not get the attention they think they should, according to a new study.

When they are ignored by their mother for as little time as two minutes, levels of the stress hormone cortisol rise and they are high even a day later because the babies are worried the same thing will happen again, Canadian researchers found.

Child development experts have said repeated stressful episodes of this nature during childhood could have a huge impact on a youngster's health throughout their life.

Some 30 mothers and babies were tested by the researchers, who got the mums to play with their children, then for them to ignore them for two-minute periods.

Cortisol levels were found to be higher when the babies were being ignored.

Dr David Haley, of the University of Toronto, said: "The results suggest that human infants have the capacity to produce an anticipatory stress response that is based on expectations about how their parents will treat them in a specific context."

Recently, a study from the University of Leicester revealed mothers were less likely to suffer from post-natal depression if they were assigned a health visitor.

Posted by Paul Robertson