Premature to say, yes, we're pretty sure this is going on, but ScienCentral reports on an interesting study of women who were pregnant at the time of the September 11, World Trade Center disaster. Half of the 38 women had developed PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The study compared the children of these women, a year later. They found that children of those mothers who had developed PTSD had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, with those who had been in the third trimester having the lowest levels. The results are capable of more than one interpretation, but the trimester effect is the most compelling argument that the babies were indeed affected by what happened to their mothers on that day. While more studies are needed to confirm this particular result, the findings do add to a swelling body of evidence that what goes on during pregnancy can have significant effects on the cognitive and emotional attributes of the child.