The article is devoted to the review and analysis of foreign studies aimed at studying the influence of the mother’s state/stress and attitude to the child during pregnancy on the subsequent mental development of the child in the infancy, early and preschool periods, and school age. The analysis showed that different types of prenatal stress (anxiety and depression of the mother, stresses during pregnancy) can have a long-lasting negative impact on different aspects of the child's mental development: cognitive development, temperamental characteristics and behavioral features. In the infancy, studies of the influence on the temperamental and cognitive characteristics of children are predominantly presented, whereas in older ages, more significant and stable associations are found with the behavioral problems of children. These consequences are found, even if included in the analysis of the subsequent negative state and stress of the mother. The influence of mother’s attitudes to the fetus is less represented in foreign studies, and the impact on the temperamental characteristics of the child has been studied to a greater degree. The article also discussed possible mechanisms and ways of influencing the state and stress of the mother, and her relationship to the fetus.