The Effect Of Excess Stress On Pregnancy: Expert Explains The Side Effects

Pregnancy is one of the toughest phases for women. It is this painful phase only that leads to the beautiful phase of parenthood. It is crucial to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle during pregnancy. Excess stress can cause complications in your pregnancy. In such cases, it is advisable to seek help. It is essential to replace the stress with laughter and joy if you wish to have a result of joy and happiness. It is essential to manage excess stress during the pregnancy phase to not only have a beautiful phase of parenthood but also for your child to have a beautiful phase of childhood. Before we get to the techniques that one can use to manage stress, first let us understand the impacts of stress on pregnancy.

How does stress impact pregnancy?

Stress may have the following negative impacts on pregnancy-

• It may lead to high blood pressure and heart problems
• It increases the chances of having a premature baby
• It may lead to the birth of an underweight baby
• Stress might affect the child and the child may suffer from health problems like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and be more prone to suffer from depression

How can one manage stress during pregnancy

1. Positivity is the key to happiness

It is essential to have two weapons with you that are positivity and happiness if you wish to fight stress. Happiness is the path to happiness. Yes, happiness attracts happiness. By staying around positive people and your loved ones and indulging in activities and things that you like can keep you in a pleasant mood and keep you away from stress and anxiety.

2. Health is wealth

It is essential to take care of your during pregnancy. Only when you are healthy, your child will remain healthy! So, it is important to take care of yourself first if you wish to take care of your child and keep them safe and healthy. You can remain healthy by eating healthy and including important vitamins and nutrients in your diet. Avoid sugary foods.

3. Breathe deep

Doing yoga and breathing exercises can help you manage stress and lead to a healthy pregnancy. Meditation is very useful in managing stress.

4. Music is the best healer

Listening to music can help you relieve stress. Listen to your favourite tunes to manage stress.

Conclusion

Stress during pregnancy is normal. After all pregnancy and giving birth to a child are such important events in life. So, feeling stressed is natural at such times. So, you can't avoid stress, but you can learn to manage stress by using the techniques stated above.

(Dr Hrishikesh Pai is Consultant Gynaecologist & Infertility specialist attached to Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, D Y Patil Hospital, Navi Mumbai & Fortis Hospitals in New Delhi, Gurugram & Chandigarh)

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