Pregnancy Anxiety vs. Stress: A Helpful Guide
Welcome to this educational resource backed by medical research & inspired by questions from hundreds of our past and current patients. You’ll find helpful info on mood, anxiety, depression, mental illness, hormones, treatments, and resources. — Anna Glezer, MD
Anxiety is a broad term, which in the general population is often synonymous with worry and stress. In this article, we will separate out two situations: When you're feeling stress during pregnancy and having general worries and when you're struggling with an anxiety disorder, and how to manage it all for healthier outcomes.
Pregnancy is an anxiety-provoking time whether you are a new mom or having your third or fourth child. Many patients ask me:
Is worrying impacting the development of my baby?
Are my anxiety levels are normal?
How do I manage my worries and stress during pregnancy?
Stress During Pregnancy
Stress is defined as a threat to usual balance. When you are feeling stressed – because something outside of your usual life balance is taking place, and pregnancy is a prime example – your biology changes. The way that you respond to stress depends on a number of factors, and these include things like how much social support you have and how experienced you are with different coping skills.
The biology behind stress includes various hormones such as cortisol and other chemicals in the body. We know these can change dramatically during pregnancy. Studies have also looked at the ways chronic stress and elevated stress hormones impact a pregnancy, finding an association with worse outcomes for delivery and for the baby. These are described later in this article.
Common Worries during Pregnancy
The anxieties pregnant patients often have in pregnancy include:
Fear of childbirth
Fear of having a child with handicap or having something wrong with the baby
Concern about one’s changing appearance
Worry about being a good parent
When anxiety reaches a level of severity where it is impacting functioning, whether that means performance at work, interpersonal relationships, or your ability to care for yourself, it might be considered more than anxiety – it may be an anxiety disorder. We also know that anxiety in pregnancy can sometimes be missed or dismissed - it's not uncommon for worries to be chalked up to "oh that's just new mom worry." However, there's a difference between occasional worries and an anxiety condition that's impacting your ability to get good sleep, to rest, to engage with others, and to function in your life. We also know that that kind of high anxiety state can have an impact on both the well-being of mom and of baby during a pregnancy, so we want to catch it early and intervene, as we do have many effective treatment tools.
Anxiety disorders are more common in women compared to men, and the average age for the onset of an anxiety illness in a woman corresponds with the usual reproductive times. An anxiety disorder, to which a woman might have vulnerability due to genetics or biology, can often be triggered by stress. And pregnancy is a stressful time.
How Common Are Anxiety Disorders in Pregnancy?
Researchers have studied anxiety in pregnancy, but the numbers when making estimates of prevalence of anxiety disorders vary widely, in part because the definition of an anxiety disorder can be quite strict or more liberal in a given study. Overall, the prevalence of any anxiety disorder during pregnancy ranges from just under 5% all the way to almost 40%. The most common condition is Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Other clinically significant conditions included panic disorder, phobias including social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
It is also quite possible to have more than one type of anxiety condition or to have an anxiety condition combined with a depressive disorder or another mental health issue. Several studies also find that anxiety is highest in the first and third trimester, compared to the second.
Do Anxiety Disorders Change in Pregnancy? Do They Improve or Worsen?
The answer to this question depends on the study you choose to review. Unfortunately, the literature on this also varies widely, with some studies noting symptoms improve in pregnancy while more suggest that symptoms actually worsen, and several actually find that there is no change. A number of elements can increase your risk of symptoms, however. These include low social support, low self-esteem, and a high risk pregnancy. Previous history of an anxiety condition also increases the risk of pregnancy-related anxiety.
Anxiety and Stress and the Impact on Pregnancy Outcomes
Anxiety disorders, acute severe stress, and chronic stress during pregnancy can impact delivery outcomes and the postpartum period, including:
Increased risk of postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety
Preterm delivery
Prolonged labor
Lower birth weight babies
Smaller head circumference (a predictor of cognitive development)
Pre-eclampsia
Longer hospital stays after delivery
Infant functioning/temperament (more fussy, crying, and lower scores on tests of neurodevelopment)
Future anxiety and other mental illness in childhood and beyond
Anxiety during pregnancy can also influence the type of pregnancy women experience. Because of the strong link between mind and body, anxiety can impact the physical aspects of pregnancy. For example, heightened anxiety in the first trimester leads to more reports of nausea and vomiting. Anxiety can also lead to the development of unhealthy coping behaviors such as use of alcohol, tobacco, or extreme over-eating.
Treatment for Anxiety and Increased Stress in Pregnancy
Before beginning to treatment pregnancy-related anxiety, it is important to make sure that the symptoms of anxiety are not due to a different underlying medical ailment. For example, thyroid dysfunction, not uncommon in pregnancy, can lead to similar symptoms as an anxiety disorder, with elevated heart rate and anxious thoughts. Similarly, other conditions such as anemia or pre-eclampsia can present with symptoms similar to anxiety disorders. Therefore, it is essential to speak with your obstetrician about these symptoms and receive appropriate medical evaluation.
A wide variety of treatment options have been researched to improve anxiety in pregnancy. These include more traditional forms of psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, one of the best studied non-medication treatment options for anxiety disorders. The options also include music, which has been shown to decrease levels of stress hormone cortisol, relaxation techniques, which have been shown to improve fetal heart rates, sleep management, reduction of caffeine, and medications. It is important to keep in mind that every woman is different and treatment should be individualized.
Pregnancy Anxiety vs. Stress - Selected References:
Selected References:
Goodman, J.H., Chenausky, K.L., Freeman, M.P. “Anxiety disorders during pregnancy: A systematic review.” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry: 75:10 (2014).
Please note that while I am a clinical doctor, this article is not a substitute, and no one should be taken as medical advice. No specific health advice is being given in this article, and no physician-client relationship is created by you reading this article; all information provided in this article is for informational purposes only.
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