Stress & Pregnancy

Friday, September 25th, 2009 – Day 194

I consider myself to be a pretty even keeled person who rarely stresses over things. I actually think I work better under pressure and a little stress here and there. But I guess everyone has a day or two from time to time where the stress level is a bit higher than normal. I wanted to find out how stress directly related to pregnancy, so I did a search. Doesn't look good. Says Stress results in the perception of emotional strain as well as physical responses, such as an increase in heart rate or stress hormones. Some findings have shown that during the first trimester and postpartum stress is felt more deeply, or at least has a greater effect on physical factors.

There seems to be some buffering from the severity of stress in the second trimester and even more so in the third trimester, although no one knows why this is. For instance, one study found that heart rate is less affected by stress (that is, the numbers aren't as high) in expectant mothers during the second and third trimesters compared with women who aren't pregnant. Regardless of the studies, however, it's fair to say that a pregnant woman's emotional response to stress may still be severe.

Well, to me, that doesn't sound good. So to deal with stress, I'll just have to make sure that I don't let things get to me. I want my baby to be safe and sound in her oven and growing normally. I consider myself to be a very happy person pretty much all the time so if I get stressed once in a while, I guess that is okay.