Pregnancy as a phenomenon of body stress. Pregnant women can cry

It has long been known that the emotional state of a pregnant woman directly affects the health of an unborn baby. In this case, the impact can be long-term or short-term, and bring benefits or harm. Stress during pregnancy is normal. It all depends on what kind of stressors affect the expectant mother, how she individually tolerates stress.

How does the mood of the mother affect the health of the baby

The modern world is difficult to imagine without stress. And for a woman, the very fact of pregnancy is a stress, physiological and psychological. It changes the state of the girl, affects the mood, makes you worry about the little things and get nervous.

Prolonged stress is especially dangerous., which contributes to an increase in pressure, a change in the composition of urine, the development of anemia. And since the expectant mother is inextricably linked with the baby, all these troubles also affect the child.

Stress hormones produced in a woman's body are transferred to the fetus. This can lead to health problems for the baby in the future. First of all, the nervous and circulatory systems, the heart suffer.

Often a child is born small and weak, he is more prone to seasonal diseases, depressive states, his behavior differs from the behavior of his peers. It is worth understanding in more detail how stress affects pregnancy.

As a result of research, it was found that perinatal stress leads to:

increased risk of preterm birth;
reduced baby weight;
insufficient growth of the newborn;
high risk of miscarriage.

High danger is a strong stress in the early stages of pregnancy. It can cause miscarriage. In the future, there are violations in the development of the circulatory system, oxygen starvation.

Interesting fact! It has been proven that mothers who have been exposed to stressful factors for a long time are 60 percent more likely to have babies with respiratory diseases.

Severe stress during pregnancy has long-term consequences, it affects the baby not only during his stay in the womb, but also in the future. Newborns and children under one year of age suffer from its effects as follows:

increased activity;
irritability;
anxiety;
fussiness;
violation of concentration;
slow mental and physical development.

After a year, the consequences of perinatal stress are expressed as follows:

inattention;
inability to concentrate;
emotional instability;
behavioral disorders in girls.

Studies have shown that stress during pregnancy affects the life, behavior, physical and emotional state of a maturing child. It is not uncommon that severe stress during pregnancy leads to the appearance of mental illness, in particular, to the development of severe depression and schizophrenia.

However, moderate stress can be beneficial., because it helps to strengthen the immunity of the fetus, improve motor skills. It is believed that periodically arising small stress helps the child to endure the strongest first stress in life - birth.

It has been proven that from the 20th week the baby feels and experiences everything that the mother feels. He fully conveys her emotional state. This can and should be used to raise a baby in the womb.

The difference between moderate and severe stress

The topic of the influence of moderate and severe stress on a person is always relevant. There is debate about what positive impact it has. Scientists have proven that there are positive factors that accompany stress, these include:

Increasing adaptability . Thanks to stress, a person learns to adapt to the constantly changing conditions of life. This is what allowed people to survive global climate change, explore new territories, learn new activities, gain knowledge. All this happened due to the adaptive mechanisms that include stress.
Memory sharpening . In a state of tension, a person can remember what seemed to be long forgotten. The concentration of attention increases, the ability to solve tasks that were beyond the power increases.
British scientists came to the conclusion that moderate stress promotes weight loss . Extra pounds go away due to the influence of stressors that cause a slight increase in body temperature. During this period, brown fat causes the breakdown of white fat molecules, as a result, excess weight is lost.

The body of an adult is 90 percent white fat, and this increases the risk of developing many of the diseases that obesity provokes. Light periodic tension can serve as an excellent prevention of these diseases.

But strong stressors, on the contrary, negatively affect the human body, causing harm to it. It is as follows:

Chronic stress and tension lead to exhaustion of the body, a significant decrease in immunity, which causes various pathologies. The adrenal glands intensively produce cortisol, it is called the stress hormone, it reduces the activity of lymphocytes. A person becomes afraid of any infection.
Increased stress on the body, physical and emotional, contributes to the production of large amounts of hormones and catecholamines. This puts a strain on the heart, heart rate and breathing become more frequent, vasospasm develops, and blood pressure rises. A pre-infarction condition appears. Ignoring it can lead to a heart attack.
Development of post-traumatic syndrome. This is a dangerous condition, with which you should already go to a qualified psychotherapist. It is expressed in the constant experience of a stressful situation, a return to the past, a person lives in constant fear, closes himself or tries to tell others about what happened again and again.

The benefits and harms of stress are a rhetorical question. Everyone can find his own answer, the whole thing lies in the attitude of the person himself to the current state of affairs. Many people know how to keep a face and get out of difficult situations with dignity.

As for a pregnant woman, she should experience only positive emotions when carrying a baby. At the same time, hormones of happiness - endorphins - are produced in her body. They allow the fetus to develop normally, and subsequently the baby is calm and balanced.

Everyday life in the twenty-first century presents a person with situations in which he experiences not only joy and pleasure, but also irritation, despair and anger.

Simply put, for a modern person, a stressful state is almost the norm. - this is an attempt of nature to help a person put up a barrier from emotional and physical stimuli with the help of certain reactions of the body.

Major stressors

Which provoke the development of stress:

The inner world of the individual- all kinds of fears, experiences for various reasons, a feeling of dissatisfaction with oneself.
life circumstances- family problems or conflict at work, lack of finances, death of a dear person.
Way of life- the habit of working hard, lack of time for sleep, neglect of nutrition, drinking and smoking.
External factors- uncomfortable living conditions, tedious trips around the city, unsuitable ecology.

In a woman in a position, in addition to such irritants, one can include:

constant worry about your baby;
insecurity in a life partner or lack thereof;
obsessive thoughts about childbirth and future life changes;
fear that pregnancy will negatively affect appearance;
severe toxicosis, and as a result of back pain, nausea, fatigue.

The expectant mother, who has not yet had the opportunity to gain experience in bearing a child, experiences even more. And all this against the background of colossal hormonal changes in the body of a pregnant woman.

Both benefit and harm

Stress can be divided into two groups

useful(or positive) - eustress;
harmful(or negative) - distress.

Eustress

Useful stress usually occurs against the background of positive emotional experiences. It can be unexpected joy or, conversely, the expectation of any events or problems that are not related to negativity, but that need to be addressed.

A person is in anticipation of a positive result, because he knows the way to solve it, like, for example, a graduate before passing the final exams.

Eustress, mobilizing all the resources of the body, helps a person to overcome the routine problems that arise during the day, to plan them.

Such a state can be called an awakening reaction, since a small portion of adrenaline splashing into the blood during eustress contributes to the rapid awakening of the body. This helps to tune in to the coming day, plan it without feeling negative, get to work and, feeling a surge of strength, with a sense of satisfaction, take up the performance of official duties.

At its core, such stress serves to preserve and maintain life in a person. Therefore, it can be classified as useful.

But there is also harmful stress – distress. Its effect on the body is destructive. A person, and especially a woman in a position, can enter this state absolutely unexpectedly, “catching” the negative from the outside world. Or, on the contrary, it can be the result of a long emotional stress, so to speak, accumulated stress.

In this case, the body's resistance will gradually decrease, which can lead to its complete extinction. If you do not pay attention in time and miss the time to take action, then the usual, it would seem, emotional discomfort can lead to a serious illness. This condition almost always becomes chronic.

There is another type of stress -. The prerequisite for it is not some specific action, but the meaning that a person attaches to the very fact of this action. Therefore, you should try to change your attitude to what happened, look at the situation from a different angle and find something good in what happened.

What is dangerous stress during pregnancy

The consequences of stress that developed in the expectant mother during pregnancy for herself and the unborn child:

The stress hormone (cortisone) affects the increase in the level of glucose in the mother's blood, as a result, the supply of oxygen to the tissues decreases. Increasing amniotic fluid toxicity, which can not but affect the condition of the fetus.
Mom's malnutrition, when her desire to eat disappears due to experiences, it also has a bad effect on the unborn child.
Mom's stress can affect the health of the baby after birth. This may appear in his passivity or, conversely, hyperactivity, in carelessness. Enuresis, diabetes, allergies, or asthma may develop.
In pregnant women living in constant emotional stress, the risk of giving birth to a premature baby or with a malformation doubles.

As can be seen from the above, severe stress is a serious test not only for the expectant mother, but also for her unborn child.

Therefore, it is advisable to use all methods to avoid or prevent development. This should be understood not only by the pregnant woman, but also by the people around her.

What will indicate a negative state of the nervous system?

Sometimes the expectant mother does not even think and does not understand that stress has already come into her life. It seems to her that all her fears and worries are normal, because "everyone lives like that." Meanwhile, continuous stress during the period of bearing a child is already destroying everything that they can in her body.

Therefore, each mother should learn to listen to her condition and be attentive to the emerging symptoms, which are expressed in:

frequent insomnia;
lethargy, complete apathy and indifference to everything around;
decrease in working capacity;
complete or partial lack of appetite;
manifestation of nervousness, anxiety for no reason;
increased heart rate;
increased blood pressure;
uncontrollable dizziness;
decreased immunity (because of this - frequent colds).

If at least something from this list is present in the life of a pregnant woman, something should be done immediately in order to change the situation for the better. Because the health of not only the mother, but also her baby is at risk.

Babies who are prematurely born because of the mother's stress often have blindness, developmental delay, respiratory problems, and difficulty sleeping. Therefore, a pregnant woman needs to monitor her psychological comfort and create all the conditions for a healthy sleep.

Sleep is very important for maintaining the cardiovascular and immune systems, since the metabolism of a pregnant woman and her appetite depend on them. Well, the mood of the future mother depends on the appetite.

How not to stress yourself and your unborn child?

Not only the doctor who sees the woman, but also the surrounding relatives and friends can help in this. The doctor will tell you something from a medical point of view, and the husband and relatives should be very attentive to the psycho-emotional state of their dear pregnant woman.

But you can also support yourself by getting acquainted with the ways to restore peace of mind:

A woman carrying a child should have a clear understanding of the dangers and consequences of stress during pregnancy and how it affects the unborn child.

She must understand that it is better to try to avoid a stressful situation for the sake of her health and the health of the baby. And for this you need to learn to concentrate yourself on the main thing - on your pregnancy and not pay attention to minor failures and insignificant conflicts.

Stress is the body's reaction to negative life factors. Usually, it does not harm a person, but helps to adapt, but only if it does not last long. Stress during pregnancy is considered very dangerous, and especially at an early stage of gestation.

Stress during pregnancy - how to calm down and not be nervous

An increase in the load on the psyche that a pregnant woman is exposed to can lead to health problems for both the expectant mother and the child. Therefore, a pregnant woman should protect herself from stress, and when its first symptoms appear, they should be quickly recognized and eliminated.

Symptoms of stress in pregnancy

Everyone is exposed to stress on a daily basis. He gets used to this state and does not try to prevent nervous shocks and their consequences. It is possible to determine that a pregnant woman has stress for several reasons:

there is fatigue and loss of strength;
performance decreases;
poor sleep, trouble falling asleep;
pain in the heart, rapid pulse;
no desire to eat;
frequent headaches and dizziness;
increase in pressure;
deterioration of immunity, the appearance of a cold, which lasts long enough.

Headache is a symptom of stress during pregnancy

Many people react to stress atypically. Tension can be manifested by discomfort in the stomach and intestines, a rash on the skin, and difficulty breathing.

Causes of stress in pregnancy

Stress during pregnancy appears for various reasons. It all depends on the lifestyle and the problems that may appear during the gestation period. In pregnancy, stress can manifest itself in different ways. For some, some problem may be mundane and will not create negative emotions, while for others, the slightest trouble will become a source of a nervous breakdown. Often during pregnancy in the second trimester, nervous tension appears even due to bad weather, because women are especially sensitive during this period.

Often, stress can be associated with a woman's changed state during pregnancy.

Physiological changes. A sharp increase in weight, the appearance of stretch marks, the fear of losing their former beauty can bring a pregnant woman to a stressful state. Every woman should know that this is temporary, soon everything will fall into place.
Fear of childbirth. Women often hear that during childbirth, difficulties often arise that lead to undesirable consequences. In addition, the process itself is very painful. Such information causes severe stress and spoils the mood for all 9 months.
Feelings for the future child. Will the pregnancy go well? What will the baby be like? How to raise him to be a good person? All these thoughts cause stress, but you need to get rid of it. Experiences can provoke a miscarriage, illness in the baby, or disturbances in its development.
Family troubles. Pregnancy can cause a chill in a relationship. It always seems to a woman that her husband does not hear her and does not pay due attention. To this problem are added worries about the baby, the future life, which will change significantly.
Money matters. With the advent of the child, the expenses in the family will increase significantly. You need to be ready for this.
Problems at work during pregnancy. Almost all women work until the 30th week and only then go on maternity leave. General work stress, a growing belly, because of which it becomes difficult for a woman to do something, lead to nervous tension.

stress during pregnancy - quarrel with husband

In addition to the foreseen reasons, unplanned ones may also appear. The death of a relative, a quarrel with a husband or breakup, an accident, and much more can cause severe stress in the second trimester of pregnancy, the consequences of which are unlikely to be pleasant.

Danger at all stages of pregnancy

Why is stress dangerous during pregnancy? During the nerves, special hormones are produced, which can lead to placental disorders, pathologies and abnormal development of the fetus. It largely depends on the duration of pregnancy.

Shocks in the first trimester of pregnancy, especially at 12 weeks, are undesirable. At this stage, the structure of the fetal organs, organ systems occurs, so experiences should be avoided. This condition can cause spontaneous abortion or congenital diseases of the child. If the formation of the placenta is disturbed, the fetus may die in the first weeks.

During stress, the embryo disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system

If a girl suffers stress in the second and third trimester, the child may be born with autism spectrum diseases. In late pregnancy, entanglement with the umbilical cord is dangerous due to the active life of the child due to the stress of the mother.

The danger during pregnancy at the 35th and 36th week of pregnancy with shocks also exists for the woman herself. She may develop preeclampsia and develop diabetes. Stress can also affect pregnancy in the form of difficulties during childbirth. A woman will give birth too long, or, conversely, give birth ahead of time, without bringing the baby.

How to prevent dangers?

To avoid complications from severe stress during pregnancy, you need to get away from problems. For example, stop paying attention to outsiders and not talking to those people who provoke conflict. If you can’t remove the possible reasons, you need to try to change your attitude to the situation.

A woman can make a list of factors that disturb her emotional state. Nearby you need to write possible ideas: how to fix the problem, put the nervous system in order. You need to control your emotions.

You can increase your resilience by doing the following:

walk more in the fresh air;
sleep well;
eat right, eat more vegetables and fruits;
do yoga and swimming;
talk heart to heart with friends;
rest more.

To relieve stress, you need to walk more in the fresh air

Many women are well relieved by aromatherapy or meditation. Any such event is important for the body, the main thing is to perform the procedure in a good mood.

It is worth remembering that at the 9th month of pregnancy and during all stages of gestation, a woman must take care of herself and the child.

How to behave?

Doctors warn about the harmful effects of stress on pregnancy. You need to know how to deal with it. Special methods will help relieve nervous tension.

Take small breaths in and out at the moment of shock. Gather and give yourself completely to breathing, stroke your stomach, do a massage.
Turn on the music and relax. For this, calm melodies are suitable.
Take a warm shower, light scented candles.

It will be easier to endure a terrible event if you tell someone about it, speak out. Mom, husband or good friend. Go for a massage, read nice books, watch comedy movies.

Turn on the music and relax

During times of constant stress, sleep more (at least 9 hours). If you can’t fall asleep quickly, you can take mild sedatives, for example, valerian. Check with your doctor for instructions.

If these methods do not help, go to experienced professionals. In difficult life situations, a psychologist helps a lot.

Result of stress during pregnancy

Short-term stress contributes to the recovery of the body due to the production of hormones. However, sudden mood swings cause severe damage to the nervous and immune systems. The number of lymphocytes, which are responsible for fighting diseases and infections, is significantly reduced, so the likelihood of long and severe colds increases. Chronic diseases can worsen and even cancer cells can form.

High psycho-emotional stress is dangerous. Weakness, poor sleep, headache and the onset of a cold are symptoms of overexertion. Such stress can negatively affect the fetus and cause possible developmental abnormalities.

Conclusion

Stress has a negative effect on the woman and the fetus. The expectant mother must understand that she is now responsible not only for her life, but also for the life of her child. She should try her best to control her emotions and not give in to stressful situations. Thus, she will protect both her health and the baby.

Research has shown that severe stress during pregnancy can harm the unborn baby. Women exposed to stress are twice as likely to have babies with any malformations than those whose pregnancy was emotionally calm and smooth.

The causes of severe stress can be the breakdown of a marriage, the loss of a loved one, and so on. Loneliness, constant nervous tension (or, conversely, apathy), depression, a feeling of abandonment, fear that something might go wrong - all this is difficult for a future mother to bear. But the worst thing is that the woman's nervous experiences also affect the baby.

Effects of maternal stress during pregnancy on the child

Expectant mothers who experience stress during pregnancy expose their babies to stress hormones. Also, the development of the fetus can be adversely affected by malnutrition (when women lose their appetite due to disorders and experiences) and the resulting toxins.
The hormone released during times of stress is called cortisone. It leads to an increase in blood sugar and a decrease in the supply of oxygen to the tissues. Both of these conditions can lead to birth defects.
The "habitat" of the future baby becomes more "toxic".
In the future, due to mother's stress, manifestations of such properties as passivity, lack of initiative (the other extreme - hyperactivity - is also possible and also not the norm), inattention, and poor self-control are more likely to occur in a child due to mother's stress. These children are more likely to need antidepressant treatment in the future.
Stress during pregnancy can cause asymmetries in the placement of the fingers, ears, legs, and elbows. These children may also have a reduced IQ (“intelligence quotient”).
Due to disorders in the nervous system of the child, problems arise related to memory, thinking, perception.

Different consequences of stress of a pregnant woman for boys and girls

For mothers-to-be expecting boys and girls, the effects of stress during pregnancy will differ.

If a girl is expected

Fatigue and sleep disturbances result in increased irritability of the expectant mother. If she is expecting a girl, then this irritability can lead to a rapid birth and the absence of a "first cry" in the baby.

If a boy is expected

Internal dissatisfaction, fear and worries about health can negatively affect the birth of a boy. Here the risk is even greater: the difficult emotional state of the mother can lead to premature amniotic fluid and the onset of labor. Also, for some reason, the likelihood of entanglement of the umbilical cord around the neck at birth increases.

pediatric problems in babies

Babies born prematurely due to severe stress have a high risk of respiratory disease, blindness, and delayed motor development.

Children born to depressed mothers are at increased risk and experience sleep problems in infancy and early life.

In order to avoid all possible problems, you should pay great attention to your psychological comfort and healthy sleep. Sleep plays an important role in maintaining the health of the cardiovascular system and the immune system, regulating metabolism and appetite, "supporting" a good mood.

Here are 5 tips to help you cope with stress.

6 ways to deal with stress during pregnancy

You don't have to let yourself get sloppy. Ideally, of course, it would be an option if during the entire nine months of pregnancy you would be protected from stress and any serious emotional experiences. But in real life, this is unlikely to be realized in real life. After all, anything can happen.

In cases of "unforeseen disorders" it is necessary to have "stress management" strategies in your arsenal. Here is a selection of five great options to distract from sad thoughts and cheer up.

1. Go to the gym or exercise "at home"

Exercise during pregnancy helps reduce nervous stress and improves the overall health of the body. Not only do you keep in great shape - you get enough energy to be in good shape and get rid of various pregnancy-related ailments.

Of course, it is important that the training is "pregnancy compatible". That is, so that playing sports does not entail an increased risk for the baby (the threat of injury, lack of oxygen, etc.).

List of types of exercises that suit you best:

Hiking or slow walking on a treadmill;
quiet cycling on mostly flat terrain or riding an exercise bike without load;
swimming and water aerobics;
step simulator;
aerobics "with weak return" (without sudden movements, pushes, jumps).

2. Get yourself a "pregnancy consultant"

Often, the expectant mother has stressful situations due to ignorance of what is normal in her position. She begins to examine each sign under a magnifying glass and worry: should it be so or is it something out of the ordinary? That is why we recommend that all women who are going to become mothers for the first time, in addition to consulting a doctor, “find” a friend for themselves - a woman who is either pregnant herself (but for a period of several months longer than yours), or who has recently given birth. When you have the opportunity to turn to an experienced mother, this can reduce anxiety and relieve stress. Down with prenatal depression!

By the way: recently, forums for future and accomplished mothers have gained particular popularity. If you do not have pregnant women among your acquaintances, you can chat on one of these forums. Just be sure to filter the information!

3. Learn to Meditate

Research has shown that meditation can help reduce the negative effects of high stress (and improve stress tolerance), relieve pain, and lower blood pressure and heart rate. Regular meditation will also help solve the problem with sleep - protect against insomnia, allow you to fall asleep faster and fully restore strength overnight.

Before you start meditating, find a comfortable, spacious place where you feel comfortable in every way. Sit down, set a timer for five minutes (gradually increase the meditation time to 20 minutes). Place your hands on your stomach, close your eyes, and sit focused only on your breathing until the timer goes off. That's all - in a simplified version - what needs to be done!

4. Practice Relaxation Breathing

Don't forget your breathing. And here we should mention the regular practice of the so-called relaxation breathing (Amer. The term "labor breathing"). If you periodically “do” such breathing, exercises will help you reduce stress levels during pregnancy.

Simply place your hand on your stomach and breathe "belly" feeling your hand rise with each inhalation and fall with the exhalation. After mastering this simple technique, modify it a little: breathe deeply and take small pauses before exhaling. As you exhale, slowly count to four before inhaling.

Such breathing is also called “yogi breathing”. After five to ten minutes, you will find that it slows down, the body relaxes, the mind is freed from disturbing thoughts and peace comes.

5. Get a massage

Everyone knows that massage very useful for the body. It helps to relieve back pain, leg cramps, headaches and some other problems associated with pregnancy. For example, it calms and relaxes the nervous system, contributing to the production of the hormone endorphin. So you have a good reason to approach your husband with a bottle of massage oil and a "hint" of what you want. And that reason is motherhood! :)

6. Use the "magic" of aromatherapy

Some aromatic oils help to relax, come to your senses, get rid of far-fetched problems. If you do not have individual contraindications, then try using this method of dealing with stress. To "permissible" during pregnancy include oils of grapefruit, bergamot, lavender, lemon, tea tree.

From the instructions for use:

Grapefruit oil. The aromatherapy properties of this oil allow you to cheer up, invigorate, overcome stress and its consequences. It is also known to relieve manic-depressive states. Interestingly, grapefruit oil simultaneously has a mild hypnotic and stimulating effect. It can alleviate the severity of premenstrual syndrome, relieve migraine pain, reduce discomfort during pregnancy, relieve fatigue and headaches.

Literature

Want to learn more about the effects of stress? It is described very vividly in John Medina's book "The Rules for the Development of Your Child's Brain" (in the Labyrinth, in Ozone). In general, the book is very interesting: it describes the entire process of fetal development (and very accessible and exciting, but with physiological details) and the changes that occur in the mother's body.

The book can be bought in electronic form at LitRes (if it is more convenient for someone to read from the screen). Plus, it'll be cheaper.

The book also gives advice on the development of a child up to 4 years old: what to look for, what affects his abilities and character. Read in one breath.

If you experienced severe stress during pregnancy:

This can affect your child's temperament: babies become more excitable, more difficult to calm down.

This can reduce the IQ of a child: the average decrease can be about 8 units for certain mental and motor indicators measured in the first years of a child's life.[…]

This may hinder the development of the child's motor skills in the future, his ability to concentrate. Differences continue to develop at age six. Harm can also be done to the child's stress response system.

Stress can even reduce your child's brain volume.

Also in the chapter you will learn about 3 types of toxic stress and about laboratory studies on rats confirming that anxiety can lead to unimaginable consequences: stomach ulcers, loss of sleep and reduced immunity.

We hope our tips will be useful to you, and stress and depression will bypass you!

Many consider pregnancy to be the happiest period of life, but not everything is always so carefree. Health problems and worries about the unborn child contribute to stressful conditions in pregnant women.

Do depression and stressful situations affect the course of pregnancy? It's hard to get a definitive answer. A short-term emotional outburst is to some extent beneficial for the body, which cannot be said about long-term stress, which negatively affects the well-being of the expectant mother and her health, and also prevents the normal development of the fetus.

Symptoms of nervous stress

A woman expecting a baby may not even feel that she is in constant stress. At the initial stage of this condition, only psychological symptoms are present:

bad sleep;
apathy;
tearfulness;
decrease in working capacity;
irritability;
feeling tired;
panic attacks.

With prolonged depression, the expectant mother develops physical symptoms of stress. These include:

heart palpitations;
high blood pressure;
migraine;
nausea;
frequent SARS and colds;
weight loss;
increased muscle tone.

Causes of the condition during pregnancy

Stress in early pregnancy can occur for a variety of reasons. For the most part, this factor depends on the nature and psychological susceptibility of the woman.

The most common causes of stress are:

Fear of childbirth. After listening to the frightening stories of her grandmother or friends, the pregnant woman begins to panic and get nervous in anticipation of the upcoming birth. During this period, in order to reduce emotional stress, you can attend special trainings for pregnant women and read literature on modern methods of childbirth.
Problems at work. Many pregnant women continue to go to work until they go on maternity leave, and if work is not easy, there are many stressful situations. Some are worried about informal work, as they may lose their job and career growth will be in question.
Fear of losing beauty and former figure. Often women in a position are worried about their appearance, because mass gain occurs very quickly. In addition, stretch marks appear that do not look aesthetically pleasing. You need to understand that after the birth of a baby, you can restore your previous forms. You can start exercising within a couple of months after delivery. It is important to control your diet and follow the correct daily routine even while carrying a child.
Experiences regarding the development and intrauterine formation of the fetus, as well as the normal course of pregnancy. Severe stresses on this basis occur quite often. The expectant mother is worried about whether the fetus is developing correctly, whether any pathologies will arise.
Fear of not being able to cope with the new role of a good mother and wife. After the birth of a baby, a young mother sometimes has a very difficult time. The baby often wakes up at night and requires constant attention. During this period, relatives need to support the young mother and overcome difficulties together.

Danger and consequences for the expectant mother and baby

Experts believe that experienced severe stress during pregnancy can be the impetus for serious complications. The consequences of mental overstrain may not appear immediately, but have their negative impact only a few years after the baby is born. Problems in such a child can appear not only in primary school age, but also in adolescence.

In the early stages

Stress is dangerous at any stage of pregnancy, because it not only harms the female body, but can also cause abnormalities in the development of the fetus. In the first months of gestation, stressful conditions threaten miscarriage, as the tone of the uterus increases due to the release of hormones.

In addition, there is a tendency to reduce immunity, which contributes to the unhindered penetration of viruses and bacteria into the body of a future woman in labor, causing various diseases. In the period from 5 to 9 weeks, stress can provoke abnormal formation of the maxillofacial bone in the fetus. The consequence of this is a wolf's mouth or a cleft lip (we recommend reading: what is a wolf's mouth in children: pathology photo).

If a woman experienced a super-emotional shock in the second trimester of pregnancy, the child may develop autism in the future. Subsequently, it will be difficult for him to communicate with peers and be in a team. Stress in the early stages provokes the appearance of diabetes in both the mother and her baby.

At a later date

Serious emotional overexcitation in the third trimester threatens with early birth or, conversely, the baby will be born post-term. In addition, this condition can affect the course of delivery. Sometimes childbirth is too difficult or doctors decide in favor of a caesarean section.

With stress that appeared at a later date, the fetus often suffers from a lack of oxygen, blood flow in the placenta is disturbed. A baby can be born with an underdeveloped nervous system (autism, enuresis or hyperactivity), will lag behind in development.

How to avoid stress during pregnancy?

Every woman who is preparing to become a mother should be aware of the danger of stress for her and the baby, and try to avoid such situations so that unforeseen consequences do not arise. If you can’t overcome nervous tension on your own, you can use useful tips:

Try to overcome fear. If a woman is afraid for her child, you need to consult a doctor and, if desired, undergo an additional ultrasound. Special trainings for pregnant women or a psychologist will help to cope with fears.
Hobbies will help you take your mind off negative thoughts and relax.
Walk outdoors. Walking saturates the body with oxygen and improves blood circulation. Do not forget about the ventilation of living rooms.
Communicate with people who do not cause negative emotions, irritation and hostility.
Appropriate nutrition and good sleep will relieve overwork and provide the body with important substances, as well as a supply of energy.
Perform special physical exercises for pregnant women. Swimming or yoga classes will help keep the body in the right shape and give a charge of vivacity and good mood.

How to relieve stress during pregnancy?

Panic attacks, anxiety and other negativity should not consume a woman during gestation. You need to be able to overcome this condition, because stress affects not only the well-being of the mother, but also the health of the crumbs.

If negative emotions and bad mood often overtake the expectant mother, she should not succumb to them, but, on the contrary, eradicate them at the initial stage. A woman should have several useful and effective techniques in her arsenal to help her effectively overcome this or that stressful situation.

Useful practices

When a woman feels that she is about to break down, or the situation is almost on the verge of it, it is necessary to resort to useful techniques for relieving stress. In this case, it is recommended:

take a warm shower or take a bath by adding a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the water;
listen to slow relaxing music;
perform breathing exercises;
do yoga or meditation;
light the aroma lamp;
go for a light massage session.

These tips will help you deal with stressful situations. For example, having mastered the practice of relaxation breathing, you can achieve a visible effect in a few minutes. The body relaxes, blood pressure normalizes, heart contractions return to normal.

Medications

Sometimes a doctor may advise a woman to take sedatives that soothe and normalize sleep. Permitted herbs include valerian, motherwort, and teas that contain them. On the recommendation of a specialist, you can drink sedatives such as Notta or Novo-Passit.

With prolonged stress during pregnancy, a medical specialist may prescribe stronger drugs, sometimes even antidepressants. In this case, the doctor takes into account the possible risks to the fetus and the effect of treatment on the expectant mother.

Vitamins also help to overcome depression, which should be taken only after consulting with your doctor. Vitamins of group B, folic acid and magnesium B6 help to overcome negative conditions.