Perinatal Risk and Later Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are lifelong medical conditions that affect neurodevelopmental trajectories. Numerous risk factors have been linked to IDD, including biomedical and environmental influences. However, specific underlying etiology is not necessarily easily identified. Nongenetic pathways are dependent upon sensitive periods of neurodevelopment, including the perinatal period. In this chapter, we review nongenetic perinatal risk factors that influence fetal brain development and confer risk to later IDD diagnosis in childhood. Following this, we outline factors that mitigate risk for future offspring development of IDD. Given that environmental factors are inherently modifiable, we discuss research implications for future public health policy and advocacy.