Pregnancy and Stress - So How Can Stress Affect Your Pregnancy?

Pregnancy and Stress - So How Can Stress Affect Your
Pregnancy? by Elizabeth Duffield

Under any circumstances, severe cases of stress can be harmful to anyone or
anything. It can lead to disease and a deterioration in health as well as causing the
mental health to suffer too. Pregnancy and stress seem to be coupled together, to
start with pregnancy can put a women's body under a great deal of stress. Mentally
it is also a worrying time especially for a first time mum but also for additional
pregnancies too as the worry then extends to siblings as well. It doesn't help that we
live in stressful times worrying about all aspects of everyday life.

In this day and age many women work as close to their due date as possible to
ensure they get as much time off after the baby is born. Working so close up until
the birth (obviously depending what kind of job it is) can put an extra strain on a
heavily pregnant body. It is in the later stages of pregnancy that a women needs to
listen to her body and relax while waiting for labour to begin naturally. It has been
said that working so late in pregnancy is a major factor in the increased number of
women going overdue and needing to be induced as their bodies don't think they are
ready, but how much of this is speculation I'm not sure.

If this stress is not managed early on the reality is it can have some severe
consequences on the mother and then consequently her unborn baby. The mother is
putting her body at risk of high blood pressure, panic attacks, depression, obesity,
digestive problems and skin irritations such as eczema. Already we know that in
certain extreme cases of stress and pregnancy that this could lead to a risk of
miscarriage early on or if later in the pregnancy the risk is premature labour,
premature birth and low birth weight babies. More recent research suggests that
pregnancy stress also increases the chance of your baby being born with asthma or
allergies.

It is not easy to stop worrying, but action needs to be taken during pregnancy to
reduce stress levels. Some positive steps are eating healthily, sleeping well, making
an effort to take the time each day to relax and taking some gentle exercises each
day can make a huge difference.

About The Author

Elizabeth Duffield

To find out more ways to reduce your stress levels during pregnancy visit: for some ideas.

To find out more on pregnancy and stress visit:

Pregnancy is such a daunting
experience and it is only natural to
worry. Hormones are flying all over
the place and incredible physical
changes makes it very hard not to
worry to some extent. There are
many reasons a women may worry
during her pregnancy, such as
impending birth, finances or
relationships, these are common
reasons to worry and in some
women it may lead to stress during
pregnancy. If this is the case it is
important to look at ways to reduce
the stress levels.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The content on
this website is for educational purposes only. Please consult with your physician before using natural
remedies and before making any drastic changes to your diet or exercise program.