At your first prenatal visit, your doctor will likely hand you a list of all the things you should (and shouldn’t) do while pregnant. Doing things like gaining a healthy amount of weight, eating a well-balanced diet, and avoiding drugs and alcohol are all ways pregnant people can keep themselves healthy, so their babies can be healthy, too.

But your physical health shouldn’t be the only thing you focus on while pregnant. Your mental health can also have an effect on your baby —  especially when it comes to stress.

One of the biggest concerns about stress during pregnancy is that it can prompt the mom to go into labor too early. Preterm birth — that is, before 37 weeks — is linked to various health conditions, including being born too small (under 5.5 pounds), breathing issues, and an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.

The reason for this could be physiological. Stress affects the body in a number of ways, including increasing your blood pressure (which can lead to a pregnancy complication called preeclampsia), changing your hormone levels, and making it difficult to sleep. But as many people can attest, stress can also impact your mental state and, as a result, your ability to take care of yourself through healthy eating and exercise.

To manage their stress, some turn to drugs, smoking, or alcohol — all of which can be seriously dangerous to expectant moms and their babies. Because of this, it’s important to recognize the sources of stress and develop healthy ways to manage it while pregnant.

SOURCES OF STRESS IN PREGNANCY

Stress can be caused by any number of factors and will vary widely from one situation to the next. That said, there are some common stressors to be aware of, including:

• Pregnancy-related stress: Despite what Hollywood would have you believe, not all expectant moms have a Beyonce-level glow about them during pregnancy. It can be a stressful time for some moms, as they worry about the health of their baby.
• Some might have experienced pregnancy loss or pregnancy complications in the past that required bed rest or hospitalization and are concerned it will happen again. Others might have become pregnant after challenging circumstances or traumatic events.
• Regardless of the reason, for some women, being pregnant — and all the possibilities of what could happen because they are — can be a major source of stress that negatively impacts their mental health.
• Racial discrimination: It’s a reality that women of color (WOC) are often recipients of racial discrimination in the United States. In the workplace, at school, or on the street, WOC face levels of racism and aggression in both obvious and subtle ways at much higher levels over the course of their lives than other groups, and that can take its toll on new moms and their infants. Women who report perceiving greater amounts of racial discrimination are more likely to have babies born early or underweight than those who don’t.
• Stressful life events: Having a traumatic event happen to you — like the death of a family member, devastating natural disaster, or being abused or abandoned by a partner — unsurprisingly, can also add to a mom’s stress levels and increase the chances of her baby being born too soon or too small. This is especially true if the event happens in the first trimester, when the baby’s body and brain are still in the early stages of development.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it can offer insight into what kinds of factors could cause moms to be significantly stressed out leading up to, during, and after her pregnancy.

WAYS TO MANAGE AND RELIEVE STRESS DURING PREGNANCY

In situations where stressors can’t be avoided (like those mentioned above), it’s important to find ways to manage the stress effectively. These are all activities you can do to relieve or reduce your stress loads and minimize its effect on your body.

• Exercise, like going for a walk or practicing yoga.
• Meditate or practice breathing exercises.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Eat a well-balanced diet.
• Talk about your concerns with your doctor or counselor.
• Identify what triggers your stress (for ex., driving), and develop coping strategies when they happen (for ex., listening to calming music on the road).