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 Concern
Treatment
 Pregnancy
Experiences
Pregnancy
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Stress
Once you have learned that you are pregnant, you
will naturally want to focus on doing what is best for your baby.
As discussed within other sections of this website, having a
healthy lifestyle is absolutely essential.
One of the factors that is often overlooked is the role of stress
in achieving the right mental and physical equilibrium during
pregnancy. Researchers have shown that pregnant women with high
levels of stress (e.g. caused by death in the family, divorce or
sudden change in employment status) had more pre-term deliveries
and regular-term deliveries with lower birth weights.
Stimuli that stress us, which vary for each individual, release a
surge of hormones into the bloodstream that were originally
designed to help us succeed in either “fight or flight.” As we
normally do neither, these hormones (which result in increased
heart rate, blood pressure and breathing) build up in the body,
eventually doing damage to the cardiovascular system and the vital
organs.
One of the most important ways to reduce stress is to take control
of your life and eliminate or reduce the factors that affect you.
You have made a conscious choice to become pregnant. You may now
need to reorder your priorities to have the time and energy to
fully appreciate it.
Exercise is a terrific way to relieve stress because it actually
rids the body of the “fight or flight” hormones. That is one of the
reasons you often feel relaxed and have a sense of wellbeing after
physical activity.
Another way to reduce stress is to calm the mind with deep
breathing exercises and meditation. Yoga offers one method, but
there are many others. Speak to your doctor, or consult the
self-help section of your local library or bookstore.
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