Many people know that the emotional state of a pregnant woman affects the health of an unborn baby quite strongly. In this case, the impact can be short-term or long-term, bring both benefit and harm. Stress during pregnancy is normal. But you need to understand what stressors have an effect, and consider how a woman tolerates it.
Definition
Stress is the body’s reaction to intense excitement. This means that the person was very scared, surprised, upset or outraged. Medical specialists consider this concept a little differently. What was presented above, namely mental confusion or nervous tension refers to neuropsychological stress.
There are several main types:
- emotional;
- physiological;
- light;
- temperature;
- hungry;
- neuropsychic.
That is, a variety of factors can cause this condition. Carrying a baby is a very responsible task, so every mother needs to know how stress affects pregnancy.
Features
When a woman is in an interesting position, she has a huge number of changes in her body, there are disturbances in metabolic processes, hormonal disruptions, so the organs function differently. Everything affects the expectant mother - not only the environment, but also other personal factors:
- the pregnant woman shows rapid fatigue;
- freedom of action is limited;
- there is constant irritation;
- there is a constant fear for the child.
Symptoms
All pregnant mothers should know how stress during pregnancy affects a woman in order to avoid such a condition, since the fetus reacts very actively to all experiences. It should be noted that such problems can occur in several forms:
1. Acute - it proceeds quickly enough and also ends.
2. Chronic is a sharp depressive state that lasts constantly.
Due to the fact that the girl is nervous, her body produces the following hormones:
- adrenalin;
- cortisol;
- norepinephrine.
This increases the tone of the uterus, significantly narrows the blood vessels and raises blood pressure, as a result, the pregnant woman speeds up the heartbeat.
It is almost impossible to get an unambiguous answer to the question of how stresses affect pregnancy, since a short-term emotional outburst is also the best exercise for the body. But it is very important that such a condition does not develop into a chronic form. After all, if such shocks are constant, a woman may have breathing problems, the skin will begin to turn pale, then blush. Also of the symptoms can be noted wet palms, very dilated pupils and pain periodically occurring in the chest area.
In the event of chronic stress, a woman cannot restrain her emotions, she becomes fussy, distracted, she has problems with memory, appetite, headaches and eating disorders.
Causes
It is already known whether stresses affect pregnancy, so you need to know the factors that contribute to the appearance of the problem:
- Constant quarrels with her husband.
- Lack of support for loved ones.
- Continuous problems with sleep, because a woman gets tired so quickly during pregnancy.
- The feeling of constant discontent with everyone.
- Nervous and difficult work or study at a university.
You need to know that it is severe stress that is dangerous, since it can threaten the life of the fetus. It occurs when a woman for a long time worries for something and accumulates a huge amount of emotions. Due to such troubles, the body cannot produce the required protection, therefore, such factors negatively affect the process of bearing the fetus.
How to relieve stress during pregnancy?
It is extremely important to get rid of nervous experiences in a timely manner. Sometimes it may be difficult to do, but you should close your eyes to problems and think about the health of the unborn child. To overcome troubles, you need to strengthen your body:
- As prescribed by the doctor, vitamin complexes should be taken. Vitamins C and E are especially necessary. With their support, you can not only strengthen the immune system, but also rejuvenate the entire body as a whole, as well as protect the nervous system. It is proved that with the help of vitamin C you can get rid of provocateurs that cause a sense of panic. Thanks to vitamin B, the nervous system will be thoroughly protected, it can be easily found in marine products.
- Having figured out how stresses affect pregnancy, and understanding that this can have a negative impact on the health of the baby and mother, you should perform specially designed yoga complexes that include breathing exercise, relaxation, and simple physical exercises.
- It is advisable to do your favorite thing as often as possible, knit, read, that is, calm your mind and distract from various problems.
- Those who know how nervous stress affects pregnancy and how difficult it is sometimes to get rid of it, recommend seeking help from a psychologist if it is not possible to get out of this state for a long time. The doctor will advise effective methods, and the patient will feel better.
- Pregnant women are reassured by listening to romantic and calm music.
Danger in different trimesters
Every woman who wants to become a mother should know how stress affects her early pregnancy, because negative experiences can end in a miscarriage. If problems find a girl in the second or third trimester, then there is a threat to the mother herself. Vital vital organs begin to strain, pressure increases later, a large number of edema appears and it is possible to see protein in the urine. In the placenta, blood flow worsens and as a result, the fetus will lack oxygen.
Possible consequences
What is the danger of stress during pregnancy? A similar question is asked by many girls to their doctors. The presence of additional experiences often leads to health problems of the baby. He can be absolutely healthy at birth, and troubles will begin to manifest further. Most often, the following disorders are observed in children:
- increased distracted attention and activity, which subsequently affects learning;
- problems with the speech apparatus, as well as difficulties in learning to write;
- phobias, fears, urinary incontinence, neurosis;
- weakness of the immune system and cardiovascular ailments that provoke an increased susceptibility of the child to various diseases;
- the appearance of defects in appearance, which require surgical intervention to correct;
- autism and mental development problems.
Pathology while carrying the fetus
As you can see, a woman needs to know how stress during pregnancy affects the fetus , as well as how it affects the condition of the mother:
- Often there is the problem of hypoxia - lack of oxygen. Because of this, it is more difficult for a woman to bear and give birth to a healthy baby. In the most severe cases, the onset of suffocation and death of the fetus is possible.
- In the placenta, blood circulation is disturbed, problems with the exchange processes between the child and mother are formed. Therefore, the baby is born prematurely and is late in development.
- Childbirth is difficult, and a woman in labor quickly loses her strength.
- Due to the fact that a woman constantly has fears, her pregnancy is disturbed. Sometimes it ends even in a miscarriage. Girls are born much earlier, and with boys they go around.
Another indicator of how severe stress affects pregnancy is the threat of early discharge of amniotic fluid, which is quite dangerous for the life of the child.
Stress Relievers
Special psychotropic components for the treatment of stress are used extremely rarely and only at that moment when the adaptive mechanisms of the body are not able to cope with emotional stress. In this case, the doctor will certainly weigh all the possible risks for both the baby and the mother and will select the most harmless medicines.
Many drugs negatively affect the fetus and lead to the formation of malformations in the development and circulatory disorders. So, expectant mothers should understand that drops such as “Barboval”, “Corvalol”, “Valocordin”, which can easily be purchased at any pharmacy, are strictly contraindicated for pregnant women. Specialists also do not recommend self-medication and take combined preparations based on herbs - “Nottu”, “Novo-Passit”, “Persen” - since their effect on the fetus has not yet been fully studied.
The safest remedy is the drug valerian.
Prevention
How stresses affect pregnancy is already known, so this condition is best avoided. Perinatal psychologists distinguish several types of stress: moderate, which is standard for all women in childbirth and severe, arising from a mental shock leading to prolonged depression.
The factor for the appearance of the last stress can be a strong excitement or loss of a loved one, work, property. Lack of attention, cynicism, rudeness, as well as harsh statements by doctors about any problems of the woman in labor leads to a similar state.
As a preventive measure, you can offer a pregnant woman to undergo special tests at the psychologist, showing a predisposition to nervous shocks. Such a procedure should be carried out only by a specialist. According to the results of the survey, a conclusion is drawn for psychologists and doctors to assist the expectant mother.