Researchers study pregnant women's saliva

Suggest oral microbiome of pregnant women could reveal the mother's mental health

Microbes in a pregnant woman's saliva could reveal if she's experiencing stress and symptoms of mental conditions, such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new research.

Oral microbiomes - the number and type of microbes in saliva - of women experiencing anxiety or depression were found to have a high alpha diversity, meaning many types of microbes species were present.