Research: Mothers who get flu in pregnancy are FOUR TIMES more likely to have a child with bipolar disorder

Women who get flu during pregnancy are more likely to have a baby who develops bipolar disorder in later life, according to new research.

Scientists at the Columbia University Medical Centre, in New York, found that women who had flu during pregnancy were four times more likely to have a child with the disorder.

However, they reassured parents-to-be that the risk is very low.

Women who get flu during pregnancy are more likely to have a baby who develops bipolar disorder in later life

The BBC reports that the researchers studied 814 pregnant women and found a connection between bipolar disorder diagnosed during the teenage years and the twenties and flu during pregnancy.

The scientists studied people born in the 1960s and found that those whose mothers suffered from flu while they were pregnant were four times more likely to develop bipolar disorder.

The condition, which causes extreme mood swings ranging from deep depressions to manic episodes, affects about one in 100 people.

They believe that it does not directly affect the baby but that the mother’s immune response to the illness could have an impact upon a foetus’ development.

The researchers do not know why flu has this effect.

The researchers are warning parents-to-be not to be alarmed as the chance of having a child who develops bipolar disorder is still very low