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