Stress Reactivity and Mother-Infant Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Mothers who participated in an RCT of mindfulness to prevent hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and their infants at 6 months of age will attend one session in which they are consented and prepared for the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). The SFP consists of a sequence of three, 2-minute episodes in which the parent and the infant are seated about one meter away from each other. Across a pre-task baseline, task episodes (free play and still-face), and recovery periods, mothers and infants will wear wireless heart rate monitors to assess respiratory sinus arrhythmia and heart rate. At 12 months, mothers will complete lab work to assess cardiovascular risk and infants' growth velocity will be culled from pediatric medical records.