The news of a baby can be either joyous or depressing depending on the circumstances. While people celebrate getting pregnant, others mourn since it may be accidental pregnancy. Both scenarios can, however, cause stress. In as much as you are prepared for your baby, pregnancy changes a person’s body and mind.
Studies show that a high number of pregnant women suffer from stress that may be caused by both external factors and internal factors. Some people often ask if stress levels affect the baby. We will deal with the relationship between stress and pregnancy, the causes of stress, effects on a fetus and ways to manage it for you to understand the facts.
How do you get stressed while pregnant?
Every pregnant lady adapts to the new change differently. Since we all have different physiology, every woman develops various causes of stress. Some of them include:
Pregnancy discomfort
Carrying a child can bring you physical pain such as a constant backache caused by too much pressure on the back area. This is common for many women especially if the weight your child overwhelms your physique. Others experience morning sickness associated with nausea that makes them lack the appetite for food. Some women may feel extremely exhausted depending on the stage of pregnancy. Such discomfort elevates your stress levels and affects how you sit, walk or carry out regular duties.
Hormonal imbalance
A change of hormones affects how ladies react to things. A pregnancy makes most ladies develop mood swings as their hormones keep on fluctuating. Some women find themselves getting overly emotional while others act on anger. In cases of unplanned pregnancies, these hormones make you stress out since a feeling of uncertainty and frustration accompanies them.
Expectations
Most new mothers are overwhelmed by expectations which may make you stress out. The questions of how labor will be as well as how to prepare for your baby may create anxiety. Others obsess about getting miscarriages affecting their emotions. Being your first time, you may wonder what kind of a mother you will make and how you will manage to raise a child without a father figure. Expectations without answers may cause confusion and distress while pregnant.
Working conditions
Being pregnant does not excuse you from going on with your usual routine during the first phase of pregnancy. Juggling different tasks while pregnant may add to your stress as you find ways to balance your workload and feelings. Some women who work without contracts lose their jobs the minute they take maternity leaves. Such worry may burden you since you don’t know if your boss will welcome you back after you are ready to get back to work.
Types of stress that bring complications while pregnant
You may experience the pressure from the conditions mentioned above, but some may not affect your pregnancy. Some forms of stress, however, change your hormones creating unhealthy conditions which directly affects your immune system. They may cause uterus infections leading to complicated delivery. The following are the types of stress that can cause complication while expectant.
A change of events
They say that nobody knows the future. Some people wake up to the news of the death of a family member or friend while pregnant. Studies show that stress of a mother affects their child. Some people do not know how to cope with such situations and use alcohol to deal with the pain.
Unhealthy situations
Getting pregnant while young and not financially stable may cause depression if one lacks support from family. Facing rejection from the partner responsible for the pregnancy affects the healthy development of a child. Such situations create dilemmas as some choose to terminate the pregnancy. Others experience postpartum depression due to the circumstances surrounding them.
Racial discrimination
Studies reveal that most blacks in America deliver babies before time while other get underweight children. This is because some women face racism while pregnant especially in cases where they are black and the father to be is white. Racism at work or in the neighborhood affect the stress levels of a mother. This may alter how the brain of your child develops. Doctors say that children born under such circumstances end up developing fear and anxiety as they grow up.
Ways of managing stress while pregnant
Getting help
Teen pregnancies are mostly associated with drug and alcohol abuse. In the confusion of not knowing what to do with the baby, you may indulge in substance abuse. Seek help from Castle Rock Recovery Village to break drug dependence so that you can focus on nurturing your baby without feeling depressed.
Find ways of dealing with pregnancy discomfort
The nine months may not be easy for you, but there are healthy ways to make you comfortable while at it. Attend clinics so that you can let nurses advise you on how to deal with nausea and back pains. They can also give you some medication to relieve pain.
Keep fit
Being pregnant is no excuse to spend the whole day sleeping. Find an instructor to guide you on what kind of exercises are healthy at this stage to avoid straining the baby. You can also regularly take nature walks that help you stretch your body and work on your tension. This also prevents discomforts such as back pain.
Get support
This phase needs assistance from a caregiver or a family member since there are things you should not do alone. To avoid obsessing about stuff such as miscarriages, get someone to help you clean up when the pregnancy is developing. You can also find someone to talk you about your emotions to avoid piling up feelings. Attending prenatal care will also give you enough support on the do’s and don’ts of pregnancy.
Plan
Avoid stress by planning before the arrival of your child. Communicate with your boss and know when to go on leave and when to resume work. Reduce curiosity by going for scans to find out the gender of your child. This makes you understand what to buy in preparation as well as gives you a heads up as to what to expect.
Final thoughts
Being pregnant knowingly and unknowingly can cause tension on a parent. Do not relieve this stress in the wrong ways, instead find good methods that will not affect your baby’s health. Remember that a healthy mother is a healthy baby.