Early environmental factors, particularly adversities experienced by the birthing parent during gestation, can have a profound effect on child health, influencing both fetal brain development and infant behavior. The mechanisms by which such adversity contributes to child development, however, are not fully established. We prospectively examined the effect of maternal perceived discrimination on maternal distress and on offspring 1-month-old temperament. We hypothesized that maternal experiences of discrimination would worsen maternal distress and that maternal distress would predict alterations in infant temperament.