Stress During Pregnancy

Many women feel stressed at times in pregnancy. The big question is, how does stress affect your unborn baby, and how much is too much? High levels of stress or prolonged stress can have detrimental effects.

What you can do:

• Assess, honestly, how stressed you feel
• Do what you love to do
• Make time each day to sit or lie quietly, and relax
• Spend time outside
• Talk to a friend or professional if you are concerned

The key is to focus on how you feel, rather than on any external measure of what ‘should’ be easy or difficult. Many high functioning people are not aware that they are leading high-stress lives. Asking for accurate reflection from your peers and colleagues may provide an objective view; and a good therapist may help with stress-evaluation.

Our mothers and grandmothers were not aware of what stress can do: but the information available to us now allows us to realistically assess and reduce stress levels in pregnancy.

If you'd like to know more about how stress affects your body and your baby, read on ...

Prolonged periods of depression, stress, or anxiety lead to increased production of stress hormones, particularly cortisol and norepinephrine. Although the placenta protects your baby from low levels of stress hormones, chronic or extreme stress or fear can impact a growing baby. At the same time, a baby may produce high levels of her own stress hormones in response to her environment.

When levels of stress or anxiety are high, the mum’s sympathetic nervous system is activated: this stimulates the drive to fight or flee, raises adrenalin, adds to muscle tension and is the antithesis of bonding. This can cause hyperactivity in a newborn, and contribute to sleep disturbances. According to Thomas Verny M.D., psychiatrist, author and former lecturer at Harvard University USA, stress hormones ‘have adverse effects on gene regulation, precipitating excessive destruction of neurons and synapses, changing organisation and function of the brain, and damaging the baby’s future ability to deal with stress.’

Postnatal bonding can heal some of the ill-effects of stress during pregnancy. While prevention is the better option, it is reassuring to know that there are many ways to support healing and repair.

Taking stock

Are you choosing to address things that are urgent rather than what is important? We meet many mothers who are preoccupied with their career, with pleasing others or holding on to their ‘single’ life, but miss the important, heart felt connection with their growing baby.

There is often fear about becoming a parent. Who will you be if you are not a ‘lawyer’? Will you know how to be a mother/father? Will your partner still find you sexy? Worries like this are often glossed over by maintaining a pre-parent lifestyle, as if making the most of whatever time is left before babies arrive. But parenthood has begun, even though your baby is not in your arms.

Your life will be more fulfilling, and your baby’s womb environment more nourishing, if you take time to reduce your stress. Remember, bringing joy to yourself brings joy to your baby. You can begin with simple, practical steps.