Stress in the first weeks of pregnancy. Effect of stress on pregnancy, child

It has long been known that the emotional state of a pregnant woman directly affects the health of an unborn baby. In this case, the impact can be long-term or short-term, and bring benefits or harm. Stress during pregnancy is normal. It all depends on what kind of stressors affect the expectant mother, how she individually tolerates stress.

How does the mood of the mother affect the health of the baby

The modern world is difficult to imagine without stress. And for a woman, the very fact of pregnancy is a stress, physiological and psychological. It changes the state of the girl, affects the mood, makes you worry about the little things and get nervous.

Prolonged stress is especially dangerous., which contributes to an increase in pressure, a change in the composition of urine, the development of anemia. And since the expectant mother is inextricably linked with the baby, all these troubles also affect the child.

Stress hormones produced in a woman's body are transferred to the fetus. This can lead to health problems for the baby in the future. First of all, the nervous and circulatory systems, the heart suffer.

Often a child is born small and weak, he is more prone to seasonal diseases, depressive states, his behavior differs from the behavior of his peers. It is worth understanding in more detail how stress affects pregnancy.

As a result of research, it was found that perinatal stress leads to:

  • increased risk of preterm birth;
  • reduced baby weight;
  • insufficient growth of the newborn;
  • high risk of miscarriage.

High danger is a strong stress in the early stages of pregnancy. It can cause miscarriage. In the future, there are violations in the development of the circulatory system, oxygen starvation.

Interesting fact! It has been proven that mothers who have been exposed to stressful factors for a long time are 60 percent more likely to have babies with respiratory diseases.

Severe stress during pregnancy has long-term consequences, it affects the baby not only during his stay in the womb, but also in the future. Newborns and children under one year of age suffer from its effects as follows:

  • increased activity;
  • irritability;
  • anxiety;
  • fussiness;
  • violation of concentration;
  • slow mental and physical development.

After a year, the consequences of perinatal stress are expressed as follows:

  • inattention;
  • inability to concentrate;
  • emotional instability;
  • behavioral disorders in girls.

Studies have shown that stress during pregnancy affects the life, behavior, physical and emotional state of a maturing child. It is not uncommon that severe stress during pregnancy leads to the appearance of mental illness, in particular, to the development of severe depression and schizophrenia.


However, moderate stress can be beneficial., because it helps to strengthen the immunity of the fetus, improve motor skills. It is believed that periodically arising small stress helps the child to endure the strongest first stress in life - birth.

It has been proven that from the 20th week the baby feels and experiences everything that the mother feels. He fully conveys her emotional state. This can and should be used to raise a baby in the womb.

The difference between moderate and severe stress


The topic of the influence of moderate and severe stress on a person is always relevant. There is debate about what positive impact it has. Scientists have proven that there are positive factors that accompany stress, these include:

  1. Increasing adaptability . Thanks to stress, a person learns to adapt to the constantly changing conditions of life. This is what allowed people to survive global climate change, explore new territories, learn new activities, gain knowledge. All this happened due to the adaptive mechanisms that include stress.
  2. Memory sharpening . In a state of tension, a person can remember what seemed to be long forgotten. The concentration of attention increases, the ability to solve tasks that were beyond the power increases.
  3. British scientists came to the conclusion that moderate stress promotes weight loss . Extra pounds go away due to the influence of stressors that cause a slight increase in body temperature. During this period, brown fat causes the breakdown of white fat molecules, as a result, excess weight is lost.

The body of an adult is 90 percent white fat, and this increases the risk of developing many of the diseases that obesity provokes. Light periodic tension can serve as an excellent prevention of these diseases.

But strong stressors, on the contrary, negatively affect the human body, causing harm to it. It is as follows:

  1. Chronic stress and tension lead to exhaustion of the body, a significant decrease in immunity, which causes various pathologies. The adrenal glands intensively produce cortisol, it is called the stress hormone, it reduces the activity of lymphocytes. A person becomes afraid of any infection.
  2. Increased stress on the body, physical and emotional, contributes to the production of large amounts of hormones and catecholamines. This puts a strain on the heart, heart rate and breathing become more frequent, vasospasm develops, and blood pressure rises. A pre-infarction condition appears. Ignoring it can lead to a heart attack.
  3. Development of post-traumatic syndrome. This is a dangerous condition, with which you should already go to a qualified psychotherapist. It is expressed in the constant experience of a stressful situation, a return to the past, a person lives in constant fear, closes himself or tries to tell others about what happened again and again.

The benefits and harms of stress are a rhetorical question. Everyone can find his own answer, the whole thing lies in the attitude of the person himself to the current state of affairs. Many people know how to keep a face and get out of difficult situations with dignity.

As for a pregnant woman, she should experience only positive emotions when carrying a baby. At the same time, hormones of happiness - endorphins - are produced in her body. They allow the fetus to develop normally, and subsequently the baby is calm and balanced.

Stress is the body's reaction to negative life factors. Usually, it does not harm a person, but helps to adapt, but only if it does not last long. Stress during pregnancy is considered very dangerous, and especially at an early stage of gestation.

Stress during pregnancy - how to calm down and not be nervous

An increase in the load on the psyche that a pregnant woman is exposed to can lead to health problems for both the expectant mother and the child. Therefore, a pregnant woman should protect herself from stress, and when its first symptoms appear, they should be quickly recognized and eliminated.

Symptoms of stress in pregnancy

Everyone is exposed to stress on a daily basis. He gets used to this state and does not try to prevent nervous shocks and their consequences. It is possible to determine that a pregnant woman has stress for several reasons:

  • there is fatigue and loss of strength;
  • performance decreases;
  • poor sleep, trouble falling asleep;
  • pain in the heart, rapid pulse;
  • no desire to eat;
  • frequent headaches and dizziness;
  • increase in pressure;
  • deterioration of immunity, the appearance of a cold, which lasts long enough.

Headache is a symptom of stress during pregnancy

Many people react to stress atypically. Tension can be manifested by discomfort in the stomach and intestines, a rash on the skin, and difficulty breathing.

Causes of stress in pregnancy

Stress during pregnancy appears for various reasons. It all depends on the lifestyle and the problems that may appear during the gestation period. In pregnancy, stress can manifest itself in different ways. For some, some problem may be mundane and will not create negative emotions, while for others, the slightest trouble will become a source of a nervous breakdown. Often during pregnancy in the second trimester, nervous tension appears even due to bad weather, because women are especially sensitive during this period.

Often, stress can be associated with a woman's changed state during pregnancy.

  1. Physiological changes. A sharp increase in weight, the appearance of stretch marks, the fear of losing their former beauty can bring a pregnant woman to a stressful state. Every woman should know that this is temporary, soon everything will fall into place.
  2. Fear of childbirth. Women often hear that during childbirth, difficulties often arise that lead to undesirable consequences. In addition, the process itself is very painful. Such information causes severe stress and spoils the mood for all 9 months.
  3. Feelings for the future child. Will the pregnancy go well? What will the baby be like? How to raise him to be a good person? All these thoughts cause stress, but you need to get rid of it. Experiences can provoke a miscarriage, illness in the baby, or disturbances in its development.
  4. Family troubles. Pregnancy can cause a chill in a relationship. It always seems to a woman that her husband does not hear her and does not pay due attention. To this problem are added worries about the baby, the future life, which will change significantly.
  5. Money matters. With the advent of the child, the expenses in the family will increase significantly. You need to be ready for this.
  6. Problems at work during pregnancy. Almost all women work until the 30th week and only then go on maternity leave. General work stress, a growing belly, because of which it becomes difficult for a woman to do something, lead to nervous tension.

stress during pregnancy - quarrel with husband

In addition to the foreseen reasons, unplanned ones may also appear. The death of a relative, a quarrel with a husband or breakup, an accident, and much more can cause severe stress in the second trimester of pregnancy, the consequences of which are unlikely to be pleasant.

Danger at all stages of pregnancy

Why is stress dangerous during pregnancy? During the nerves, special hormones are produced, which can lead to placental disorders, pathologies and abnormal development of the fetus. It largely depends on the duration of pregnancy.

Shocks in the first trimester of pregnancy, especially at 12 weeks, are undesirable. At this stage, the structure of the fetal organs, organ systems occurs, so experiences should be avoided. This condition can cause spontaneous abortion or congenital diseases of the child. If the formation of the placenta is disturbed, the fetus may die in the first weeks.

During stress, the embryo disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system

If a girl suffers stress in the second and third trimester, the child may be born with autism spectrum diseases. In late pregnancy, entanglement with the umbilical cord is dangerous due to the active life of the child due to the stress of the mother.

The danger during pregnancy at the 35th and 36th week of pregnancy with shocks also exists for the woman herself. She may develop preeclampsia and develop diabetes. Stress can also affect pregnancy in the form of difficulties during childbirth. A woman will give birth too long, or, conversely, give birth ahead of time, without bringing the baby.

How to prevent dangers?

To avoid complications from severe stress during pregnancy, you need to get away from problems. For example, stop paying attention to outsiders and not talking to those people who provoke conflict. If you can’t remove the possible reasons, you need to try to change your attitude to the situation.

A woman can make a list of factors that disturb her emotional state. Nearby you need to write possible ideas: how to fix the problem, put the nervous system in order. You need to control your emotions.

You can increase your resilience by doing the following:

  • walk more in the fresh air;
  • sleep well;
  • eat right, eat more vegetables and fruits;
  • do yoga and swimming;
  • talk heart to heart with friends;
  • rest more.

To relieve stress, you need to walk more in the fresh air

Many women are well relieved by aromatherapy or meditation. Any such event is important for the body, the main thing is to perform the procedure in a good mood.

It is worth remembering that at the 9th month of pregnancy and during all stages of gestation, a woman must take care of herself and the child.

How to behave?

Doctors warn about the harmful effects of stress on pregnancy. You need to know how to deal with it. Special methods will help relieve nervous tension.

  1. Take small breaths in and out at the moment of shock. Gather and give yourself completely to breathing, stroke your stomach, do a massage.
  2. Turn on the music and relax. For this, calm melodies are suitable.
  3. Take a warm shower, light scented candles.

It will be easier to endure a terrible event if you tell someone about it, speak out. Mom, husband or good friend. Go for a massage, read nice books, watch comedy movies.

Turn on the music and relax

During times of constant stress, sleep more (at least 9 hours). If you can’t fall asleep quickly, you can take mild sedatives, for example, valerian. Check with your doctor for instructions.

If these methods do not help, go to experienced professionals. In difficult life situations, a psychologist helps a lot.

Result of stress during pregnancy

Short-term stress contributes to the recovery of the body due to the production of hormones. However, sudden mood swings cause severe damage to the nervous and immune systems. The number of lymphocytes, which are responsible for fighting diseases and infections, is significantly reduced, so the likelihood of long and severe colds increases. Chronic diseases can worsen and even cancer cells can form.

High psycho-emotional stress is dangerous. Weakness, poor sleep, headache and the onset of a cold are symptoms of overexertion. Such stress can negatively affect the fetus and cause possible developmental abnormalities.

Conclusion

Stress has a negative effect on the woman and the fetus. The expectant mother must understand that she is now responsible not only for her life, but also for the life of her child. She should try her best to control her emotions and not give in to stressful situations. Thus, she will protect both her health and the baby.

Research has shown that severe stress during pregnancy can harm the unborn baby. Women exposed to stress are twice as likely to have babies with any malformations than those whose pregnancy was emotionally calm and smooth.

The causes of severe stress can be the breakdown of a marriage, the loss of a loved one, and so on. Loneliness, constant nervous tension (or, conversely, apathy), depression, a feeling of abandonment, fear that something might go wrong - all this is difficult for a future mother to bear. But the worst thing is that the woman's nervous experiences also affect the baby.

Effects of maternal stress during pregnancy on the child

  • Expectant mothers who experience stress during pregnancy expose their babies to stress hormones. Also, the development of the fetus can be adversely affected by malnutrition (when women lose their appetite due to disorders and experiences) and the resulting toxins.
  • The hormone released during times of stress is called cortisone. It leads to an increase in blood sugar and a decrease in the supply of oxygen to the tissues. Both of these conditions can lead to birth defects.
  • The "habitat" of the future baby becomes more "toxic".
  • In the future, due to mother's stress, manifestations of such properties as passivity, lack of initiative (the other extreme - hyperactivity - is also possible and also not the norm), inattention, and poor self-control are more likely to occur in a child due to mother's stress. These children are more likely to need antidepressant treatment in the future.
  • Stress during pregnancy can cause asymmetries in the placement of the fingers, ears, legs, and elbows. These children may also have a reduced IQ (“intelligence quotient”).
  • Due to disorders in the nervous system of the child, problems arise related to memory, thinking, perception.

Different consequences of stress of a pregnant woman for boys and girls

For mothers-to-be expecting boys and girls, the effects of stress during pregnancy will differ.

If a girl is expected

Fatigue and sleep disturbances result in increased irritability of the expectant mother. If she is expecting a girl, then this irritability can lead to a rapid birth and the absence of a "first cry" in the baby.

If a boy is expected

Internal dissatisfaction, fear and worries about health can negatively affect the birth of a boy. Here the risk is even greater: the difficult emotional state of the mother can lead to premature amniotic fluid and the onset of labor. Also, for some reason, the likelihood of entanglement of the umbilical cord around the neck at birth increases.

pediatric problems in babies

Babies born prematurely due to severe stress have a high risk of respiratory disease, blindness, and delayed motor development.

Children born to depressed mothers are at increased risk and experience sleep problems in infancy and early life.

In order to avoid all possible problems, you should pay great attention to your psychological comfort and healthy sleep. Sleep plays an important role in maintaining the health of the cardiovascular system and the immune system, regulating metabolism and appetite, "supporting" a good mood.

Here are 5 tips to help you cope with stress.

6 ways to deal with stress during pregnancy

You don't have to let yourself get sloppy. Ideally, of course, it would be an option if during the entire nine months of pregnancy you would be protected from stress and any serious emotional experiences. But in real life, this is unlikely to be realized in real life. After all, anything can happen.

In cases of "unforeseen disorders" it is necessary to have "stress management" strategies in your arsenal. Here is a selection of five great options to distract from sad thoughts and cheer up.

1. Go to the gym or exercise "at home"

Exercise during pregnancy helps reduce nervous stress and improves the overall health of the body. Not only do you keep in great shape - you get enough energy to be in good shape and get rid of various pregnancy-related ailments.

Of course, it is important that the training is "pregnancy compatible". That is, so that playing sports does not entail an increased risk for the baby (the threat of injury, lack of oxygen, etc.).

List of types of exercises that suit you best:

  • Hiking or slow walking on a treadmill;
  • quiet cycling on mostly flat terrain or riding an exercise bike without load;
  • swimming and water aerobics;
  • step simulator;
  • aerobics "with weak return" (without sudden movements, pushes, jumps).

2. Get yourself a "pregnancy consultant"

Often, the expectant mother has stressful situations due to ignorance of what is normal in her position. She begins to examine each sign under a magnifying glass and worry: should it be so or is it something out of the ordinary? That is why we recommend that all women who are going to become mothers for the first time, in addition to consulting a doctor, “find” a friend for themselves - a woman who is either pregnant herself (but for a period of several months longer than yours), or who has recently given birth. When you have the opportunity to turn to an experienced mother, this can reduce anxiety and relieve stress. Down with prenatal depression!

By the way: recently, forums for future and accomplished mothers have gained particular popularity. If you do not have pregnant women among your acquaintances, you can chat on one of these forums. Just be sure to filter the information!

3. Learn to Meditate

Research has shown that meditation can help reduce the negative effects of high stress (and improve stress tolerance), relieve pain, and lower blood pressure and heart rate. Regular meditation will also help solve the problem with sleep - protect against insomnia, allow you to fall asleep faster and fully restore strength overnight.

Before you start meditating, find a comfortable, spacious place where you feel comfortable in every way. Sit down, set a timer for five minutes (gradually increase the meditation time to 20 minutes). Place your hands on your stomach, close your eyes, and sit focused only on your breathing until the timer goes off. That's all - in a simplified version - what needs to be done!

4. Practice Relaxation Breathing

Don't forget your breathing. And here we should mention the regular practice of the so-called relaxation breathing (Amer. The term "labor breathing"). If you periodically “do” such breathing, exercises will help you reduce stress levels during pregnancy.

Simply place your hand on your stomach and breathe "belly" feeling your hand rise with each inhalation and fall with the exhalation. After mastering this simple technique, modify it a little: breathe deeply and take small pauses before exhaling. As you exhale, slowly count to four before inhaling.

Such breathing is also called “yogi breathing”. After five to ten minutes, you will find that it slows down, the body relaxes, the mind is freed from disturbing thoughts and peace comes.

5. Get a massage

Everyone knows that massage very useful for the body. It helps to relieve back pain, leg cramps, headaches and some other problems associated with pregnancy. For example, it calms and relaxes the nervous system, contributing to the production of the hormone endorphin. So you have a good reason to approach your husband with a bottle of massage oil and a "hint" of what you want. And that reason is motherhood! :)

6. Use the "magic" of aromatherapy

Some aromatic oils help to relax, come to your senses, get rid of far-fetched problems. If you do not have individual contraindications, then try using this method of dealing with stress. To "permissible" during pregnancy include oils of grapefruit, bergamot, lavender, lemon, tea tree.

From the instructions for use:

Grapefruit oil. The aromatherapy properties of this oil allow you to cheer up, invigorate, overcome stress and its consequences. It is also known to relieve manic-depressive states. Interestingly, grapefruit oil simultaneously has a mild hypnotic and stimulating effect. It can alleviate the severity of premenstrual syndrome, relieve migraine pain, reduce discomfort during pregnancy, relieve fatigue and headaches.

Literature

Want to learn more about the effects of stress? It is described very vividly in John Medina's book "The Rules for the Development of Your Child's Brain" (in the Labyrinth, in Ozone). In general, the book is very interesting: it describes the entire process of fetal development (and very accessible and exciting, but with physiological details) and the changes that occur in the mother's body.

The book can be bought in electronic form at LitRes (if it is more convenient for someone to read from the screen). Plus, it'll be cheaper.

The book also gives advice on the development of a child up to 4 years old: what to look for, what affects his abilities and character. Read in one breath.

If you experienced severe stress during pregnancy:

This can affect your child's temperament: babies become more excitable, more difficult to calm down.

This can reduce the IQ of a child: the average decrease can be about 8 units for certain mental and motor indicators measured in the first years of a child's life.[…]

This may hinder the development of the child's motor skills in the future, his ability to concentrate. Differences continue to develop at age six. Harm can also be done to the child's stress response system.

Stress can even reduce your child's brain volume.



Also in the chapter you will learn about 3 types of toxic stress and about laboratory studies on rats confirming that anxiety can lead to unimaginable consequences: stomach ulcers, loss of sleep and reduced immunity.

We hope our tips will be useful to you, and stress and depression will bypass you!

Many people know that the emotional state of a pregnant woman has a strong effect on the health of an unborn baby. 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 impact, and take into account how a woman tolerates it.

Definition

Stress is the body's response to intense excitement. This means that the person was very frightened, surprised, upset or indignant. Medical professionals see 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;
  • neuro-psychic.

That is, such a state can be caused by a variety of factors. Carrying a baby is a very responsible task, so every mother needs to know how stress affects pregnancy.

Peculiarities

When a woman is in an interesting position, a huge number of changes occur 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:

  • a pregnant woman has rapid fatigue;
  • limited freedom of action;
  • there is constant irritation;
  • there is constant fear for the child.

Symptoms

How stress during pregnancy affects a woman, all expectant mothers should know in order to avoid such a condition, since the fetus reacts very actively to all experiences. It should be noted that such problems can take place in several forms:

1. Acute - it flows quickly enough and ends in the same way.
2. Chronic - this 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 constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure, as a result, the pregnant woman's heartbeat accelerates.

It is almost impossible to get an unambiguous answer to the question of how stress affects pregnancy, since a short-term emotional outburst is also the best workout 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 problems with breathing, her skin will begin to turn pale, then blush. Also, among the symptoms, one can note wet palms, greatly dilated pupils, and pain that periodically occurs in the chest area.

In the case of a woman, she cannot restrain her emotions, she becomes fussy, absent-minded, she has problems with memory, appetite, headaches and eating disorders.

The reasons

It is already known whether stress affects pregnancy, so you need to know the factors that contribute to the appearance of the problem:

  1. Lack of support from loved ones.
  2. Continuous problems with sleep, because a woman gets tired so quickly during pregnancy.
  3. Feeling of constant dissatisfaction with everything.
  4. Nervous and difficult work or study at a university.

You need to know that severe stress is dangerous, as it can threaten the life of the fetus. It occurs when a woman worries about something for a long time and accumulates a huge amount of emotions in herself. Due to such troubles, the body cannot develop 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. Although sometimes it is difficult to do, it is worth closing your eyes to the problems and thinking about the health of the unborn child. To overcome trouble, you need to strengthen your body:

  1. As prescribed by the doctor, vitamin complexes should be taken. Especially necessary are vitamins C and E. 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 has been proven that with the help of vitamin C, you can get rid of provocateurs that cause a feeling of panic. Thanks to vitamin B, the nervous system will be thoroughly protected, it can be easily found in marine products.
  2. Having figured out how stress affects pregnancy, and realizing that this can leave a negative mark on the health of the baby and mother, you should perform specially designed yoga complexes that include breathing exercises, relaxation and simple physical exercises.
  3. It is advisable to do your favorite thing as often as possible, knit, read, that is, calm your mind and be distracted from various problems.
  4. 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 you cannot get out of this state for a long time. The doctor will advise effective methods, and the patient will feel better.
  5. Pregnant women are calmed by listening to romantic and calm music.

Danger in different trimesters

Every woman who intends to become a mother should know how stress affects early pregnancy, because negative experiences can end in miscarriage. If problems catch a girl in the second or third trimester, then there is a threat to the mother herself. The vital major organs begin to strain, then the pressure rises, 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 have a lack of oxygen.

Possible consequences

Why is stress dangerous during pregnancy? A similar question is asked by many girls to their doctors. The presence of additional experiences often leads to health problems for the baby. He can be absolutely healthy at birth, and troubles will begin to appear further. The most common disorders in children are:

  • increased distraction of attention and activity, which further affects learning;
  • problems with the speech apparatus, as well as difficulties in learning to write;
  • phobias, fears, urinary incontinence, neuroses;
  • weakness of the immune system and cardiovascular ailments, which provoke an increased susceptibility of the child to various diseases;
  • the appearance of defects in appearance, which require surgical intervention to correct;
  • autism and developmental problems.

Pathologies while carrying a fetus

As you can see, a woman needs to know how it affects during pregnancy, as well as how it affects the mother's condition:

  1. Often there is a problem of hypoxia - lack of oxygen. Because of this, it is more difficult for a woman to endure and give birth to a healthy baby. In the most severe cases, suffocation and fetal death may occur.
  2. In the placenta, blood circulation is disturbed, problems are formed with the exchange processes between the child and the mother. Therefore, the baby is born premature and late in development.
  3. Childbirth is difficult, and the woman in labor quickly loses her strength.
  4. Due to the fact that a woman constantly has fears, her pregnancy is disturbed. Sometimes everything ends even with a miscarriage. Girls are born much earlier, and they walk with boys.

Another indicator of how severe stress affects pregnancy is the threat of early discharge of amniotic fluid as a result of it, and this is quite dangerous for the life of the child.

Stress medications

Special psychotropic components for the treatment of stress are used extremely rarely and only at the moment when the adaptive mechanisms of the body are unable to cope with emotional stress. At the same time, the doctor will definitely weigh all the possible risks for both the baby and the mother and select the most harmless medicines.

Many drugs adversely 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 be easily purchased at any pharmacy, are categorically contraindicated for pregnant women. Experts also do not recommend self-medication and taking combined herbal preparations - Nottu, Novo-Passit, Persen - since their effect on the fetus has not yet been fully studied.

The safest remedy is the preparation of valerian.

Prevention

How stress affects pregnancy is already known, so this condition is best avoided. There are several types of stress: moderate, which is standard for all women in labor, and strong, arising from mental shock leading to prolonged depression.

A factor for the appearance of the last stress can be a strong excitement or the loss of a loved one, work, property. Lack of attention, cynicism, rudeness, as well as sharp statements of doctors about any problems of a woman in labor lead to a similar state.

As a preventive measure, a pregnant woman can be offered to undergo special tests with a psychologist that show a predisposition to nervous shocks. Such a procedure should only be carried out by a specialist. Based on the results of the survey, a conclusion is drawn for psychologists and doctors to help the expectant mother.