Weill Cornell Medicine Sep 11 2025 Increased risk for anxiety may begin before birth, shaped by infection or stressful events during pregnancy, according to a new preclinical study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. While scientists have long known that maternal difficulty during pregnancy may raise a child's risk for psychiatric illness, the biological pathways between these prenatal experiences and later mental health have been unclear. The study, published Sept. 10 in Cell Reports,