Effects of Stress on Pregnancy

Stress has impacted us all at one time or another. Family, work, money, time – whatever it is that’s causing the stress, we can always tell when it’s reacting in our bodies. We notice headaches and stiff shoulders; a loss of appetite and changes in weight; or maybe we simply notice that we lack the focus to complete the regular tasks of our day. When we are stressed, we release stress hormones into our body. These hormones are responsible for the headaches, loss of appetite and lack of focus.  When we are pregnant, these hormones are shared with your baby through your placenta. Oftentimes, we can easily identify the physical changes that we are experiencing due to stress, but what about the impact that these stress hormones are having on our unborn child?

Prenatal Impact of Stress

Insomnia and Trouble Sleeping

When we are stressed, our overactive minds can interfere with the amount and quality of sleep that we receive. When we lack quality sleep, it can affect our mood, our productivity, and our overall health.

Appetite Changes

The hormones that are released into our body when we are stressed often have an impact on our appetites. We may find ourselves eating more than usual and craving foods that are not very healthy. Or we may find that we aren’t hungry at all. Each of these can cause problems in the pregnant body as our babies and our bodies are dependent on a healthy intake of food to develop normally.  Weight loss, excessive weight gain, blood sugar irregularities, and vitamin & mineral deficiencies all have marked impacts on an unborn child.
 
Headaches/Body Pains

When we feel stress, we often notice a physical presentation in our bodies. Our shoulders may feel tighter than usual or we may get pains in our hips due to a buildup of stress and tension. The most common trigger of headaches in adults is stress. These headaches can be as minor as a tension headache or as debilitating as a migraine.  Those of us that tense our shoulders, clench our jaws, or stiffen our necks in response to stress are even more susceptible to these headaches.
 
High Blood Pressure or Hypertension

Your body produces a surge of hormones when you're in a stressful situation. These hormones temporarily increase your blood pressure by causing your heart to beat faster and your blood vessels to narrow.  Researchers haven’t concluded whether the stress by itself causes long-term high blood pressure but it may be that other behaviors linked to stress — such as eating unhealthy foods and poor sleeping habits — cause high blood pressure. There is evidence that supports that these short-term stress-related spikes in your blood pressure added up over time put you at risk of developing long-term high blood pressure.

Premature Labor

Chronic stress during pregnancy puts women at a higher risk for preterm labor. There are many theories about the connection between stress and prematurity – some researchers believe that the surge of hormones signals to the baby that things are not okay and labor begins; other researchers believe the connection to preterm labor is to through the side effects of stress, such as high blood pressure or changes in blood sugar levels.

Postnatal Impact of Stress

Complications at Birth/Low Birth Weight
   
A study done in Texas followed a group of pregnant women who were in the path of a hurricane during their third trimester. It was found that their babies had higher instances of requiring a ventilator after birth! Other studies have shown that stressful pregnancies can lead to low birth weights, though the exact connection is disputed in the scientific community.

Child Outcomes
   
Studies done on pregnant woman who were exposed to stressful situations during their pregnancies have shown connections to a decreased intellectual and language abilities. The differences were small between the children tested and their non-stressed peers, but scientists believe the connection is there.

Conclusion
   
Stress impacts pregnancy from conception through postnatal care. Practicing yoga has been shown to reduce stress and make people more aware of their bodies, and pre- and post-natal yoga helps to center the mother, reducing stress for the entire family.

Prenatal Yoga: It’s Good for You and Your Baby

Photo courtesy of Donamari D'Andrea of Capture Fotography

Pregnancy causes many changes in a woman’s body.  These changes bring about fluctuations in hormones and can increase physical, mental, and emotional stress in the mother and the baby.  Studies have shown that prenatal yoga can ease many of the symptoms and stressors of pregnancy for the mother.  This, in turn, brings better outcomes for the baby as well. Prenatal yoga programs that combine community time, breath work (pranayama), relaxation (shivasana and/or guided meditation), and physical poses (asana) show the most promise for benefits.

A regular prenatal yoga program can improve the psychological health of the mother.  One study (1), showed a decrease in depressive symptoms for mothers diagnosed with prenatal depression through a prenatal yoga class.  Many of the symptoms of prenatal depression were relieved.  The researchers believe that yoga helped because it stimulated the facial muscles and the muscles that control tone of voice, and it improved the mothers’ sleep, appetite, fatigue, and stress levels.  A second study (5) agreed that prenatal yoga helped mothers’ depression.  Prenatal yoga was shown to help with both depression and anger.  Yoga also appeared to help regulate the hormones and heart rates of the pregnant women. 

Another study (2) showed significant improvements in stress and anxiety for pregnant women.  This study combined prenatal yoga with mindfulness training.  This intervention taught participants to stay in the moment as part of the prenatal yoga class.  Additionally, a study (4) showed a reduction in stress and improvements in the way the mothers handled stress.  While the stress of the yoga participants went down significantly, it actually rose in the mothers who did not participate in yoga.  This study also showed that breath work during yoga also reduces stress.  Several other studies have supported these findings of improved mental health during the pregnancy and delivery and after delivery as well.  Yoga improved the psychological health of the mother on both short term and long term outcomes.  This improved mental health also led to better outcomes for the children, as well.

Researchers have also shown a connection between prenatal yoga and lessening of pain and duration of labor (3).  Women who participated in prenatal yoga had less leg and back pain (5).  Prenatal yoga participants reported shorter labor and less pain than women who did not participate in prenatal yoga.  The breath work and mindfulness taught in prenatal yoga also helped women in other studies to relax and handle the stress of labor.  

Prenatal Yoga has also been shown to improve birth outcomes.  Babies whose mothers attended prenatal yoga had better birth weight and tended to be born at term, rather than early (3).  Mothers who attended prenatal yoga tended to have fewer complications than mothers who didn’t attend yoga (3).  Even those with high risk pregnancies who attended prenatal yoga were shown to have fewer complications for pregnancy and delivery, and their babies tended to be healthier (6).   

All of the studies showed that regular yoga practice was necessary to gain maximum effects from the activity.  Sonia, one of our prenatal students, is happy to attest to this as well.  She feels that regular prenatal yoga practice helped her enjoy her pregnancy and delivery.  She says she wouldn’t change a thing!

References

1. Mitchell, Field, Diego, Bendell, Newton, & Pelaez (2012).  Yoga Reduces Prenatal Depression Symptoms. Psychology, 3, 782-786.

2. Beddoe, Yang, Powell Kennedy, Weiss, & Lee (2009). The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Yoga During Pregnancy on Maternal Psychological and physical Distress.  Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 38, 310-319.

3. Curtis, Weinrib, & Katz (2012). Systematic Review of Yoga for Pregnant Women: Current Status and Future Directions. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012.

4. Satyapriya, Nagendra, Nagarathna, & Padmalatha (2009).  Effect of Integrated Yoga on Stress and Heart Rate Variability in Pregnant Women.  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 104, 218-222.

5.Field, Diego, Delgado, & Medina (2012). Yoga and Social Support Reduce Prenatal Depression, Anxiety and Cortisol. Yoga Physical Therapy, 2, 124.

6. Rakhshani, Nagarathna, Mhaskar, Mhaskar, Thomas, Gunasheels (2012).  The Effcts of Yoga in Prevention of Pregnancy Complications in High-Risk Pregnancies: A Randomized Controlled Trial.  Preventive Medicine, 55 (4), 333-340.