P162: Stress and Reduce of Stress in Gestation

Stress is the way that our body responds to something that is out of the normal. When we are under stress, our body makes chemical and physical changes to try to maintain it. Everyone responds to stressful status in their own way. Researches show anxiety and stress during pregnancy can have both immediate and long-term effects on her offspring. In addition, the emotional state of the pregnant mother maybe affects her unborn child. The chances of having a healthy baby increases in the mothers are healthy. Anything can cause stress but stress alone cannot cause birth defects. Pregnancy can be a stressful time for many mothers. We can reduce our stress with different techniques for example: talking about our feelings with our friend, family, husband, employer, mental health professional or a trained counselor, having a healthy diet, eating regularly and nutritiously, drinking lots of water, trying to have fun, feeling positive, following an exercise plan with her health care provider’s approval, avoiding stressful people and stressful situation, relaxing, listening to music, writing a journal, resisting to drink alcohol, smoke or taking herbal products or drugs, resting when body needs it. All of the above can be helpful for us to reduce our stress in pregnancy.