Can stress affect pregnancy? How does nervous stress affect the expectant mother during pregnancy and what are the consequences for the child? Tranquilizers and antidepressants

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, and especially in the early stages of pregnancy, is considered very dangerous.

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

The increased stress 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 the first symptoms appear, quickly recognize and eliminate them.

Symptoms of stress in pregnant women

Every person is exposed to stress every day. 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 is experiencing stress for several reasons:

• fatigue and loss of strength are observed;
• performance decreases;
• poor sleep, problems falling asleep;
• heart pain, rapid pulse;
• no desire to eat;
• frequent headaches and dizziness;
• increase in pressure;
• deterioration of immunity, the appearance of a cold that lasts quite a long time.

Headache is a symptom of stress during pregnancy

Many people react to stress in atypical ways. Tension can manifest as unpleasant sensations in the stomach and intestines, skin rashes, and difficulty breathing.

Causes of stress in pregnant women

Stress during pregnancy occurs for various reasons. It all depends on your lifestyle and the problems that may arise during pregnancy. Stress can manifest itself in different ways during pregnancy. For some, a problem may be ordinary and will not create negative emotions, while for others, the slightest troubles 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 condition during pregnancy.

1. Changes at the physiological level. A sharp increase in weight, the appearance of stretch marks, and the fear of losing her former beauty can lead a pregnant woman to a state of stress. Every woman should know that this is temporary, everything will soon fall into place.
2. Fear of childbirth. Women often hear that difficulties often arise during childbirth, which 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.
3. Worries about the unborn child. Will the pregnancy go well? What will the baby be like? How to raise him a good man? 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.
4. Family troubles. Pregnancy can cause cooling in relationships. A woman constantly feels that her husband does not hear her and does not pay due attention. Added to this problem are worries about the baby and future life, which will change significantly.
5. Money issues. With the birth of a child, family expenses will increase significantly. You need to be prepared for this.
6. 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, which makes it difficult for a woman to do anything, lead to nervous tension.

Stress during pregnancy - quarrel with husband

In addition to foreseen reasons, unplanned ones may also appear. The death of a relative, a quarrel with your husband or a 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

What are the dangers of stress during pregnancy? During the nerves, special hormones are produced that can lead to placental disorders, pathologies and abnormal development of the fetus. This largely depends on the stage of pregnancy.

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

During stress in the embryo, the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system is disrupted

If a girl experiences stress in the second and third trimesters, the child may be born with autism spectrum disorders. In the later stages of pregnancy, entanglement in the umbilical cord is dangerous due to the active life of the child due to the stress of the mother.

During pregnancy at the 35th and 36th week of pregnancy, shock also poses a danger for the woman herself. She may develop gestosis and diabetes mellitus. Stress can also affect pregnancy by causing difficulties during labor and delivery. A woman will give birth for too long, or, conversely, will give birth prematurely, without bringing the baby to term.

How to prevent dangers?

To avoid complications from severe stress during pregnancy, it is necessary to avoid problems. For example, stop paying attention to strangers and not talk to those people who provoke conflict. If you remove possible reasons If it doesn’t work out, you need to try to change your attitude towards the situation.

A woman can make a list of factors that disturb her emotional state. Next to it 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 stress resistance by doing the following:

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

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

Many women find aromatherapy or meditation to be relaxing. 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 in 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.

1. Take small breaths in and out at the moment of shock. Gather yourself and surrender completely to breathing, stroke your stomach, give a massage.
2. Turn on some music and relax. Calm melodies are suitable for this.
3. Take a warm shower, light scented candles.

It will be easier to withstand a terrible event if you tell someone about it, talk it out. Mom, husband or good friend. Get a massage, read pleasant books, watch comedy films.

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 dosage requirements.

If these methods do not help, go to experienced specialists. A psychologist can help a lot in difficult life situations.

Result of stress during pregnancy

Short-term stress helps restore the body through 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, decreases significantly, so the likelihood of long and severe colds increases. Chronic diseases may worsen and even cancer cells may form.

High psycho-emotional stress dangerous. Weakness, poor sleep, headaches and colds 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 must try her best to control her emotions and not succumb to stressful situations. In this way she will protect both her health and the baby.

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

How does a mother’s mood affect the baby’s health?

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

Long-term stress is especially dangerous, which contributes to increased blood pressure, changes in the composition of urine, and 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 transmitted to the fetus. This may lead to health problems for the baby in the future. The nervous and circulatory systems and the heart are primarily affected.

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

Research has found that perinatal stress leads to:

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

Severe stress in early pregnancy poses a high risk. It can cause a miscarriage. Subsequently, disturbances occur in the development of the circulatory system and oxygen starvation.

Interesting fact! It has been proven that mothers who are exposed to stress 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 while he is 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;
• impaired 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 also affects the life, behavior, physical and emotional state of the growing 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 strengthen the fetus’s immunity and improve motor skills. It is believed that periodically occurring small amounts of tension help a child to endure the greatest first stress in his life – birth.

It has been proven that from the 20th week the baby feels and experiences everything that the mother feels. Her emotional state is completely conveyed to him. 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 over what positive impact it has. Scientists have proven that there are positive factors that accompany stress, these include:

1. Increased adaptability . Thanks to stress, a person learns to adapt to constantly changing living conditions. This is what allowed people to survive global climate change, develop new territories, learn new activity, get knowledge. All this happened thanks to the adaptive mechanisms that stress includes.
2. Memory sharpening . In a state of tension, a person can remember something that seemed long forgotten. Concentration of attention increases, the ability to solve problems that were beyond your power increases.
3. British scientists came to the conclusion that moderate stress promotes weight loss . Extra pounds are lost 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, resulting in excess weight loss.

An adult's body is 90 percent white fat, which increases the risk of developing many of the diseases that obesity causes. Light periodic stress 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:

1. 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.
2. Increased stress on the body, physical and emotional, contributes to the production of large quantities of hormones and catecholamines. This puts a strain on the heart, heartbeat and breathing become more frequent, vasospasm develops, and blood pressure rises. A pre-infarction state appears. Ignoring it can lead to a heart attack.
3. Development of post-traumatic syndrome. This is a dangerous condition that should be referred 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, withdraws or tries again and again to tell others about what happened.

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

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

The stress of a pregnant mother greatly threatens the health of the unborn baby.

Stress is harmful to absolutely everyone. On this moment Over time, scientists have been studying the impact of stress experienced by the mother during pregnancy on the health of the baby.

Pregnancy itself is already stressful for the body of the expectant mother. We will try to find out how dangerous the stress suffered by the mother is for the baby, and we will also look at ways to deal with excess anxiety and anxiety.

What is stress?

The very concept of “stress” means the body’s reaction to certain situations: hormonal changes, changes in external conditions, strong experiences, and so on. And pregnancy entails a lot of changes in a woman’s body. The restructuring also affects the psycho-emotional background, so expectant mothers always react more vividly and painfully to the influence of their environment.

This is a completely natural process necessary for adaptation to the new position and proper bearing of the child.

But such a reaction can also become pathological. If the first two stages of stress are a manifestation of a normal defensive reaction, then the third and last stage can cause protracted and other mental disorders.

Reasons for stress during pregnancy

Unfortunately, there are indeed quite a lot of reasons for pregnant women to worry: especially if it is their first pregnancy. Let's look at the most common fears among expectant mothers:

1 Fear for the baby's health. Even under ideal conditions of conception and constant examinations, there remains a small percentage of the likelihood of pathologies occurring in the fetus.

But modern medicine is not limited to just diagnosing the health of the baby in the womb. If any developmental abnormalities are detected, doctors will always be ready to provide the necessary assistance to eliminate them. Your worries about your child’s health can only give the opposite result. Therefore, it is best to just calm down and not miss scheduled examinations, tests and ultrasounds.

2 Fear of negative changes in appearance. The fear of losing your former shape after childbirth is perhaps the most groundless of the “pregnant” fears. The appearance of many women who gave birth not only did not deteriorate after pregnancy, but also became more impressive, bright and attractive. And such little things as the appearance of a tummy and rounded hips can be easily eliminated with the help of exercises in the gym.

3 Fear of the upcoming birth. How they will go sometimes remains a mystery even to a specialist who monitors the pregnancy throughout the entire period. Possible pain, lack of competence of medical personnel - any pregnant woman thinks about all this repeatedly.

Solving this problem is quite simple. You need to communicate as much as possible with women who have already experienced childbirth and express your concerns to them.

An experienced mother will definitely give you good advice and will help dispel all fears. It will not be superfluous to attend courses on preparation for childbirth. Here you will be taught proper breathing techniques, special gymnastics and other useful things.

Thanks to the knowledge you have gained, you will never be confused at the most crucial moment, and your baby will be born healthy and strong.

Effects of stress during pregnancy

Not a single woman has been able to protect herself from stress during her entire pregnancy, and therefore the question lurks in the mind of every expectant mother: “How can the stress I have experienced affect my child? Does he feel all my experiences?

The group of food antidepressants, contrary to popular belief, does not include chocolates, ice cream or jam. The ability to improve mood is inherent in products containing B vitamins, manganese and vitamin C.

Interesting! Why does a child hiccup in his stomach?

Such products are fish, nuts, lean meat (chicken, turkey, rabbit), cottage cheese, natural yogurt, red fruits (apples, pomegranates), berries and dried fruits. These products will not only help improve the mother’s mental state, but will also be very beneficial for the baby.

2 Love and be loved. Scientific experiments have shown that single women are most often exposed to stress. Moreover, a woman can feel lonely even if she is married.

It is important to understand that it is not so much sex that can help get rid of stress, but a feeling of complete understanding in the family. Don’t isolate yourself: you need to share your experiences and thoughts with your other half.

Going together to a film screening, theater or exhibition is good way forget about everyday problems and worries. New experiences experienced together will definitely put both you and your life partner in a good mood.

3 An interesting hobby is the best cure for stress. Many women begin to discover new talents during maternity leave or pregnancy. If at the normal pace of life we ​​don’t always have time for creativity, then right now you can do something exciting and enjoyable.

The expectant mother can attend master classes, during which the teacher will give you basic knowledge about a particular form of art in an accessible form. In addition, at such courses you can find new acquaintances: communication with interesting creative people always leaves a positive impression.

By creating something with your own hands, you will be distracted from negative thoughts. The fruits of your creativity will also be an excellent decoration for the interior of your home.

4 Healthy sleep and proper daily routine. Physical fatigue also has a negative effect on the nervous system. Therefore, it is so important for pregnant women to maintain a normal daily routine. Go to bed no later than 22-23 hours. It is during these hours that the body restores its strength as much as possible. Sleep started later is less effective.

Often pregnant women complain of fatigue, headaches, lack of concentration due to interrupted sleep, feelings of anxiety and sadness. Constant illness and depressive thoughts can develop into severe stress. How does the mother’s nervous state affect the child? What can be the consequences, and what are the dangers of stress during pregnancy? Let's talk about this in more detail.

Causes of nervousness in expectant mothers

Almost every woman expecting a baby can talk about physical discomfort. Many suffer from heaviness in the stomach, nausea and digestive problems, which cannot but affect their overall well-being. In addition to this, pregnant women are often stressed due to:

• back pain;
• poor sleep;
• frequent urination;
• heartburn.

Psychological stress factors during pregnancy are:

• problems with work;
• financial difficulties;
• intimate and family troubles;
• fear of childbirth.

It is especially difficult for women who are single or experiencing financial difficulties. They constantly think about how they will have to continue living after the birth of a baby who needs proper care and nutrition. Stress is inevitable in such conditions.

The dangers of high stress levels

Doctors call stress the silent killer, and they're right. Hormonal changes characteristic of pregnant women lead to nervousness, hysterics, and tears, which lead to fatigue, migraines, poor appetite, or, conversely, overeating. It's no secret that long-term stress causes cardiovascular pathologies, high blood pressure, diabetes and other complications.

When stressed, hormones such as adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisone are released from the body. During pregnancy, 10% of these hormones pass through the placenta and directly affect the motor activity of the fetus, accelerating the baby's heartbeat. The baby in the womb begins to feel stress as early as the 17th week of pregnancy. In addition, hormones affect blood flow, so the blood will not provide the baby with enough oxygen and nutrients.

What risks can pregnant women face due to stress attacks? Let's list the main ones:

1. Premature birth (before 37 weeks).
2. Birth of a low birth weight baby.
3. Slow development of the child.
4. Miscarriage.
5. Weakening of the immune system.
6. Postpartum depression.

Stress during pregnancy can cause your child to have difficulty learning and concentrating in the future. Thus, some scientists argue that stress hormones in the blood of a pregnant woman cross the placenta and negatively affect the fetal brain.

Research has shown that pregnant women under chronic stress have a significant risk of a long and painful labor and, unfortunately, stillbirth. A mother who is restless throughout her pregnancy is also more likely to give birth to a hyperactive child who will be overly nervous, prone to allergic reactions, and have problems with sleep, feeding and digestion in general.

Tips for reducing anxiety during pregnancy

Since stress negatively affects pregnancy, you need to learn to control it. How to do it:

• One of the best ways reduce anxiety - exercise regularly. For women whose pregnancy proceeds without any pathologies, doctors recommend engaging in moderate physical exercise at least 3 times a week. Classes may include recreational swimming, fitness for pregnant women.

• If you feel depressed and stressed, try to relax by doing yoga, stretching exercises, meditation, and master deep breathing techniques. All these actions will help you feel much calmer and more restrained.
• You need to pay more attention to rest and sleep. Go for a walk, read books, listen to pleasant music.

• Try to avoid stressful situations and directly those people who upset you. Focus on what is important to you and your child.
• Healthy eating during pregnancy, it helps normalize the nervous system and helps reduce possible pregnancy complications.

For many centuries, people around them have advised a pregnant woman not to worry, so as not to harm the unborn child. Recent research scientifically confirms the truth of these tips. At all stages of intrauterine life, such a factor as severe stress during pregnancy affects the development of the fetus and can cause adaptation difficulties, increased anxiety, illness and even mental disorders in the distant future.

Causes and symptoms of stress during pregnancy

Not a single woman lives through 9 months of waiting like in a sanatorium, and negative emotions often are her companion throughout pregnancy. Causes of stress can be:

• physiological and hormonal changes in the body;
• anxiety about the future, fear for oneself and the unborn child, anxiety about the upcoming birth;
• conflict situations at home, at work, in the family;
• negative information about the course of pregnancy;
• visiting a doctor at a antenatal clinic or staying in a hospital for conservation;
• breakup of a relationship, death of a loved one.

Many stressful effects are short-term and easily tolerated by a woman, since the mechanism of occurrence and overcoming stress allows any living creature to adapt to changing living conditions and achieve better results. high level adaptation. This mobilizes the resource capabilities of the body, makes it stronger and stronger.

With prolonged or intense overstrain of the body, the nervous system becomes exhausted, the feeling of anxiety does not subside, and the following negative symptoms arise:

• increased fatigue, repeated errors in actions;
• feeling of dissatisfaction with the results of your work;
• inability to concentrate;
• allergic skin reactions;
• increased anxiety and restlessness;
• various sleep disorders, nightmares and daytime drowsiness;
• rapid heartbeat, trembling, dizziness.

How stress affects pregnancy

Medical practice, life experience and recent Scientific research show that long-term negative stress leads to serious consequences and complications of pregnancy. This can manifest itself in severe toxicosis and deterioration of oxygen supply to the fetus, the development of various diseases in the mother, anomalies and pathologies in the baby. Women often have stomach pain after stress during pregnancy, which indicates uterine hypertonicity and the threat of miscarriage. To prevent stress from causing illness, you need to actively counteract it and not give room to fear and anxiety.

Stress in early pregnancy

Severe emotional stress in the early stages of gestation can lead to consequences such as miscarriage, fetal malformations incompatible with life, and frozen pregnancy. In the first 12 weeks, the organs and systems of the unborn child are formed, so the destructive effects of negative experiences will manifest themselves at the physical level of embryo development.

Stress in late pregnancy

Some studies by Russian scientists (Prof. G. I. Brekhman, Dr. Sh. S. Tashaev, T. A. Malysheva showed that an unborn child reacts to the negative emotional experiences of the mother by changing its position in the womb. This often leads to such pathology as facial or breech presentation of the fetus, and, as a result, to difficult labor or cesarean section.It was noted that in some cases, after the condition of the expectant mother improved, the child changed its position to the correct, occipital position, and normal birth occurred.

Also, psychologically traumatic situations in the later stages can cause premature birth, and in the future the child may exhibit behavioral characteristics such as hyperactivity, anxiety, fearfulness or tearfulness. Such babies can often get sick, catch colds, and suffer from allergic skin reactions.

How to cope with stress during pregnancy

Anxiety, worries, increased stress on the body and nervous system, “hormonal storms” and lack of understanding in the family cause a negative reaction in a pregnant woman. Physiological stress makes us stronger and, perhaps, teaches the future baby to overcome life's difficulties. The most important thing is to overcome the stressful situation so that the hormones that are released to overcome it are used for the benefit and not to the detriment of the health and development of the fetus.

We must remember that the negative event itself is not as scary as a person’s attitude towards it, his perception and experience of what happened. You can avoid the damaging effects of stress by:

1. Having learned to reduce negative influences, avoid them so that they do not become constant and debilitating.
2. Realize that a super-stressful state, when the body cannot cope with the load, is extremely a rare event and getting it is quite difficult.
3. Use the stress relief mechanism by starting some active actions to help overcome the negative impact of irritating factors.

• do physical work - wash the floors, wash the window, take a brisk walk;
• speak out, complain, verbally express your dissatisfaction;
• throw out emotions by crying or breaking something (your options);
• eat something tasty (chocolate or cake);
• try to relax and think about something good.

Stress that has ended and has exhausted itself in vigorous activity does not harm the unborn child.

Effects of stress during pregnancy on the child

A child who has suffered negative experiences from his mother while still in the womb may show at the age of 8-9 years such signs of severe anxiety as hyperactivity, inattention, anxiety, difficulties in perception educational material. Psychosomatic diseases, such as diathesis, asthmatic bronchitis, pathologies of the digestive and endocrine systems, are also common. Some children often suffer from depression and anxiety disorders as adults.

Therefore, it is so important that close people who are close to the pregnant woman help cope with negative emotions and difficult circumstances in a woman’s life.