A new study in United States on Sunday revealed that the women who are stressed about money, relationships and other problems during pregnancy may give birth to babies who are predisposed to allergies and asthma.

Presented at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society in Toronto, the study suggested that a mother's stress during pregnancy may have lasting consequences for her child.

Dr. Rosalind Wright of Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues found that the mothers who were the most distressed during pregnancy were most likely to give birth to infants with higher levels of immunoglobulin E or IgE -- an immune system compound -- even though their mothers had only mild exposure to allergens during pregnancy.

The researchers measured levels of IgE from the umbilical cord blood of 387 newborns in Boston. They found that the babies whose mothers were the most stressed out had high levels of IgE in their cord blood.

Dr. Wright said, "This research adds to a growing body of evidence that links maternal stress such as that precipitated by financial problems or relationship issues to changes in children's developing immune systems, even during pregnancy.”