The Invisible Burden: Prenatal Stress and Generational Trauma
The journey into parenthood begins long before a child takes their first breath. Scientific research has consistently shown that prenatal stress - whether due to external socio-political factors, personal trauma, or systemic inequalities - can leave a lasting imprint on a child’s development, influencing not just their health but also their emotional and psychological resilience.
For parents, particularly those from historically marginalised communities, the stress experienced during pregnancy is often compounded by generational trauma. This intergenerational transmission of stress has been extensively documented in the descendants of Holocaust survivors, with studies revealing epigenetic changes that affect how stress is processed across generations. Yet, the same lens has not been equally applied to the descendants of African people subjected to the transatlantic slave trade - despite clear evidence that the collective trauma endured continues to reverberate through generations.
Understanding these generational effects is not just an academic exercise; it is crucial for reshaping how we approach prenatal care, early childhood development, and trauma-informed interventions. This is where Parent-Centred Care - an approach that prioritises the emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing of parents during pregnancy and the early years - becomes essential.
The Science of Prenatal Stress and Epigenetics
The field of epigenetics has illuminated how environmental stressors during pregnancy can alter gene expression, affecting a child’s stress response, immune function, and cognitive development. Studies on Holocaust survivors’ descendants show changes in genes related to cortisol regulation - the body’s primary stress hormone - making them more susceptible to anxiety, depression, and PTSD-like symptoms (Yehuda et al., 2016).
Similarly, Black communities across the diaspora continue to experience disproportionately high rates of hypertension, anxiety disorders, and chronic stress-related conditions. Research suggests that these patterns are not solely due to social and economic disparities but also to inherited epigenetic modifications passed down from generations who endured extreme racial trauma, forced displacement, and systemic oppression (Schroeder et al., 2015).
In both cases, the mechanisms of intergenerational trauma are similar: chronic stress experienced by one generation alters the biological stress response of the next, making future generations more vulnerable to environmental triggers.
Yet, the narrative surrounding epigenetics and trauma has largely centred on Jewish communities, while Black populations - whose historical trauma is equally, if not more, severe in scale (due to the timescale, population and continued system effects) - remain overlooked in mainstream research and therapeutic approaches. This lack of recognition perpetuates cycles of misdiagnosis, pathologisation, and inadequate support for Black families navigating trauma responses that are often misunderstood as behavioural issues rather than inherited survival adaptations.
Parent-Centred Care: Breaking the Cycle Before Birth.
If trauma can be passed down, so can healing. But this requires a shift in how we approach prenatal care - not as an isolated medical concern but as a relational, systemic, and intergenerational issue.
Parent-Centred Care moves beyond traditional perinatal health models by integrating psychological, emotional, and cultural dimensions of care. It prioritises:
• Trauma-Informed Support: Recognising the impact of generational trauma and integrating therapeutic support for expectant parents.
• Community-Based Education: Providing culturally competent education on stress management, emotional regulation, and epigenetics.
• Advocacy for Systemic Change: Addressing the social determinants of health that disproportionately affect marginalised communities, ensuring access to supportive environments during pregnancy.
A parent who is supported, emotionally regulated, and empowered to understand the impact of their experiences can shift the trajectory for their child, altering the biological and psychological imprint passed down through generations.
IERA-Therapy™: A Framework for Generational Healing.
The Integrative Epigenetic Relational Approach (IERA-Therapy™), created by Novena-Chanel Davies, after seventeen years of working with trauma survivors, is designed to address these intergenerational patterns by combining epigenetics, relational therapy, and trauma-informed interventions. While traditional therapeutic models often focus on individual pathology, IERA-Therapy™ recognises that trauma is relational and systemic - requiring a framework that accounts for inherited stress responses and environmental triggers.
In the context of prenatal care, IERA-Therapy™ supports expectant parents by:
• Helping them identify inherited trauma responses and how they manifest in their parenting experience.
• Providing co-regulation techniques that foster emotional resilience for both parent and child.
• Integrating cultural and historical context into therapeutic practices to ensure interventions are relevant and empowering.
By embedding IERA-Therapy™ into Parent-Centred Care models, we create pathways for breaking generational cycles - not just through individual healing but through systemic change that acknowledges historical trauma while providing the tools for a different future.
A Call for Change
The ongoing impact of historical trauma - whether from the Holocaust or the transatlantic slave trade - demands an equitable and intersectional approach to healing. We must expand research, therapeutic models, and policy frameworks to fully recognise and address intergenerational trauma in Black communities.
Healing is not only about addressing the past but actively shaping the future. By prioritising Parent-Centred Care and integrating frameworks like IERA-Therapy™, we can rewrite the narrative of generational inheritance - one where trauma is no longer the dominant story, but resilience, healing, and empowerment take its place.
The first step in breaking generational cycles is awareness. The next is action. It is time to centre parents in the conversation - not just for their own wellbeing, but for the future of the generations yet to come.
Bibliography
• Schroeder, J. W., Notterman, D. A., & Conley, D. (2015). The role of stress and epigenetics in intergenerational transmission of trauma. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 389–412.
• Yehuda, R., Daskalakis, N. P., Lehrner, A., & Bierer, L. M. (2016). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: Putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(11), 1096–1107.
© 2025 Novena-Chanel Davies. All rights reserved. This article is protected under copyright law. No part of this work may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations for review or academic purposes with proper attribution.
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Email: ncdavies@ertacademy.org
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