Diabetes in pregnancy can hamper infant memory
Babies whose mothers had diabetes during pregnancy are less capable to develop early memories than children whose mothers had normal pregnancies.
The study proposes that babies starved of oxygen and iron before birth are not in a position to form early memories.
The need for iron doubles during pregnancy because it is used to make blood cells for the fetus. In pregnant mothers with diabetes, fluctuating glucose levels can result in iron deficiency, which can reduce the blood's capacity to carry oxygen.
The finding is based on infants of diabetic mothers at 12 months and again at age 3 1/2. The study suggested that memory deficits that appeared at one year persisted into early childhood.
Scholars have long thought that childhood amnesia was because babies could not form memories however, the new study postulated that newborns could recall things as early as 4 months of age.
