Pregnancy is a period of strong, sometimes conflicting emotions, in which it is not uncommon to have to deal with anxiety. Fighting it is essential to protect both your health and that of your baby.
- Causes of Anxiety in Pregnancy
- The Effects of Anxiety in Pregnancy
- Remedies for anxiety in pregnancy
- Tips for managing anxiety during pregnancy
Ask for free advice from a doctor right away
Happiness, enthusiasm, new projects: pregnancy is accompanied by many positive emotions and feelings , but there are also some sore points.
In fact, in this period the worries for their own health and that of the child can lead the future mother to deal with an anxiety which, unfortunately, can be counterproductive for her well-being and for that of the child, and which does not always it can be kept under control with pharmacological or herbal remedies, as they could be contraindicated.
Fortunately, however, anxiety can be safely fought with weapons other than drugs and dietary supplements .
Causes of Anxiety in Pregnancy
Anxiety corresponds to an anticipation of a future danger that manifests itself in the form of an emotional response.
This emotional response can trigger both psychological and physical symptoms , particularly fear, nervousness, feelings of discomfort, difficulty relaxing, and rapid heartbeat .
Pregnant women, in any week of gestation (both at the beginning of pregnancy and near birth), can find themselves struggling with a generalized anxiety disorder (characterized by a state of constant anxiety and excessive worry about possible negative events of any kind or nature) or with forms of anxiety more specifically associated with pregnancy.
The main causes of the appearance of this phenomenon during gestation include fear about the correct development of the baby and worries about the time of delivery.
Furthermore, from the first weeks after conception, pregnant women have to follow numerous directions and undergo various medical checks that can increase levels of concern.
There is also the appearance of various symptoms that can trigger small or large doubts about their origin and their possible consequences.
To reign supreme over all is the anxiety that the ailments you suffer from may be dangerous for the health of the child or be a symptom of something that is not going the right way.
But the anxiety that a pregnant woman can suffer can have other causes and it is quite natural.
In fact, pregnancy is an experience destined to change not only the body, but also the life of the expectant mother, who should not feel guilty about experiencing this period of change with a sense of fear.
The factors that most frequently worry the expectant mother are:
- their parenting skills
- how the relationship with the partnercould change
- the impact becoming a mother will have on one’s working life
- financialconcerns .
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To all this is added the effect of the hormonal changes that characterize this phase of a woman’s life. In fact, hormones can affect emotions, increasing vulnerability to worries.
On the other hand, high levels of anxiety can be associated with an increase in physical symptoms typically associated with pregnancy, such as nausea and vomiting.
Unfortunately, society is not always ready to facilitate the journey of women during pregnancy and motherhood. This, on the one hand, gives mothers-to-be little time to prepare for the changes associated with pregnancy and the birth of the baby; on the other hand, it can increase worries about managing one’s family and reconciling the commitments at home with those of work once the child is born.
The Effects of Anxiety in Pregnancy
As mentioned, it is quite natural for pregnancy to generate worries, but if controlling your negative thoughts becomes difficult, if anxiety starts to interfere with your normal daily life, or if you are constantly feeling sad or depressed, it is good to talk about it. immediately with your doctor to find the most suitable solution for your case.
Symptoms that should prompt you to seek help from a specialist include:
- a constant feeling of anxiety or nervousness
- the inability to stop or control anxiety
- the inability to relax
- l ‘ agitationand inability to sit still
- irritability
- feeling scared and thinking that everything will go wrong.
Ask for free advice from a doctor right away
Physical ailments can also be added to these psychological symptoms, in particular:
- tachycardia
- increased rateof breathing
- dizziness
- excessive sweating
- muscle tension, pain,or tremors
- feeling of falling asleepin fingers or lips.
Ask for free advice from a doctor right away
Sometimes the situation can escalate into real panic attacks , making it essential to ask for help from an expert.
An important anxiety can in fact be dangerous for both the expectant mother and the baby.
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In general, both generalized anxiety disorder and anxiety more specifically associated with pregnancy can have negative effects on maternal well-being, while pregnancy anxiety is more often associated with negative effects on the health of the baby. In particular, the anxiety experienced by the expectant mother in the later stages of gestation was associated with the reduction in both the weight and the length of the baby at birth. Growth of the skull and abdomen can also be negatively affected by anxiety and depression .
Furthermore, when the woman experiences stressful conditions during pregnancy, the risk that the baby may develop psychomotor disorders at birth and, during his life, neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders increases.
It is cortisol , a molecule also known as the “stress hormone” that comes into play, which would transfer stress from the expectant mother to the baby in her belly, passing through the placenta.
In the fetus , cortisol could play a role in the development of the mechanisms that allow to manage stress . Since the development of these mechanisms (the so-called hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) is concentrated during the last weeks of pregnancy, the effects of stress can be particularly negative towards the last month of gestation .
The increased cortisol associated with anxiety and stress can also be dangerous because it increases the risk of preeclampsia , a condition that endangers both the life of the pregnant woman and that of her baby.
Other hormones involved in the stress response experienced by the expectant mother that can have an effect on the baby’s development are adrenaline and noradrenaline . In this case the effect is indirect; in fact adrenaline and noradrenaline do not pass through the placenta. However, they can limit the blood supply to the uterus by carrying out a vasoconstrictive action on the arteries that supply this organ.
Finally, some studies have associated the stress and anxiety generated by pregnancy with postpartum depression , a phenomenon that endangers not only the psychological health of the new mother, but also the relationship with her child (together with all the negative consequences that this entails).
For all these reasons it is good to recognize the criticality of the situation and face it with the most suitable approach depending on the size of the problem.
Remedies for anxiety in pregnancy
Generally, the bad mood and anxiety associated with pregnancy tend to resolve without the need for special interventions.
As long as the symptoms are not severe, it is possible to avoid resorting to drugs. Rather, it can be helpful to try to reduce anxiety by practicing relaxation or breathing techniques , with a mindfulness approach, or by contacting a psychology expert.
The mindfulness is a meditation technique that is based on bringing attention to the present moment, avoiding any judgmental attitude. Studies involving women in the second trimester of gestation have shown that its practice can reduce the stress and anxiety associated with pregnancy.
Similar benefits can also be obtained with relaxation exercises or following a yoga course . What matters is to increase one’s awareness of pregnancy.
The possible intake of drugs or supplements must be done only on medical advice. In fact, drugs and nutrients can pass from mother to baby, and not all substances are considered safe for its development.
In particular, the intake in the first weeks of gestation of some molecules often used to manage anxiety disorders and as antidepressants, for example serotonin reuptake inhibitors (known by the acronym SSRI), has been associated with an increased risk of miscarriage and the incidence of developmental anomalies at birth.
SSRIs themselves , when taken during the third trimester, may be associated with the onset of pulmonary hypertension (a rare disease in which blood flow to the lungs is restricted), irritability, feeding problems (breastfeeding), sleep disturbances and other symptoms.
This does not mean that the best choice is necessarily not to take any drug therapy. Before doing so, however, it is essential to evaluate the risks and benefits with your doctor.
Similarly, women on anti- anxiety drug therapy should not suddenly stop or replace treatment without first discussing it with their care provider before discovering that they are pregnant.
As for supplements and natural remedies , it is good to remember that these are not necessarily solutions without contraindications in pregnancy. Therefore, even in this case, before taking them it is good to discuss with your doctor.
Tips for managing anxiety during pregnancy
Alongside relaxation techniques, yoga, mindfulness and psychological assistance, attending a good birth preparation course in which there is the possibility of confronting other pregnant women can also be of great help for those who have to deal with anxiety during pregnancy.
The possibilities to do so are not lacking; it is possible to participate with your partner in pre-birth courses both at hospitals, at family counseling centers of the national health system or private associations that provide support and advice to women during and after pregnancy .
In addition to other future mothers, in these facilities it is possible to meet obstetricians, psychologists, social workers, gynecologists and pediatricians who can help resolve doubts and concerns that represent sources of anxiety and find answers to the many questions that may arise in a woman’s mind. expecting a baby.
