Influence of Maternal Health on the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring: Current Perspectives

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.1594592426063

• Palavras-chave: Maternal health during pregnancy; Pregnancy; Autism Spectrum Disorder.

• Keywords: Maternal health during pregnancy; Pregnancy; Autism Spectrum Disorder.

• Abstract:

  Goal: To investigate the relationship between maternal health during pregnancy, including nutritional, environmental and psychosocial factors, and the risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in offspring, with the aim of identifying potential preventive strategies. Methods: Bibliographic review, developed by the PVO strategy, using thesearch terms in combination with the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR": (Maternal Pregnancy Health) OR (Pregnancy) AND (Autism Disorder) OR (Autism Spectrum Disorder), on the basis ofPubMed data - MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online). 1692 articles were identified with a 5-year filter. Considering the exclusion and inclusion criteria, 19 articles were selected. Review: It was identified that there is an influence of maternal diet during pregnancy in addition to vitamin D deficiency, psychosocial stress, environmental factors and prolonged use of medications, such as paracetamol, impacting behavior and neural development. Several studies investigate how prenatal and perinatal factors can affect the risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Evidence especially highlights the role of folic acid supplementation and vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy. The analysis of this research reveals the complexity of the interactions between maternal nutrition and fetal neurological development, highlighting the urgency of additional studies to clarify these associations and develop more effective preventive and early intervention strategies to combat ASD. Final considerations: It is observed that the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder is influenced by maternal health and well-being during pregnancy in several aspects. Studies that seek to determine the intensity and importance of such influence must be conducted so that it is possible to develop perinatal prevention strategies for such pathology.