Why is stress "bad for the baby?"

[Anonymous]

I know this sounds like an asinine question, but really, everyone always touts that if when you're pregnant and stressed out, it's "bad for the baby." Really, why? What's so bad about it beyond what stress in general does to a person, i.e., wear you down, etc? I'm not seeing how this will directly affect my baby... (I'm a worrier).

[Anonymous]

As I understand it from books, stress releases stress hormones into your body, some of which may cross the placenta. These could wire the babies brain to prepare for living in a stressful world, making the baby a more anxious person in general.

[Anonymous]

it's an old wives tale.

[Anonymous]

Stress causes increases in blood pressure and pulse rate, affecting blood supply. Such as restricted blood supply to the placenta, decreased oxygenation, etc.

[Anonymous]

I think the concern is about intense, on-going stress like abuse or trauma and not the kind of stress from a bad day at work.

[Anonymous]

http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,6172,00.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the concern is about intense, on-going stress like abuse or trauma and not the kind of stress from a bad day at work.

I agree with this. I don't think there's any concern with daily "normal" or even more than normal stress. I think it's the kind of stress that's bad for your health that affects the baby.

[Anonymous]

Agree with 16:57 and 20:22 posters. Like they said, it is long term stress that impacts your health, not day to day stress, a bad weekend with the in-laws or even a short but highly stressful period.

[Anonymous]

Stress can also increase your anxiety, cause insomnia, lower your immune system, and change your diet for the worse (in addition to what PPs have already posted). Naturally, you won't to avoid this whether pregnant or not, but being preggers makes you that much more "sensitive" since it can affect your baby and development.

[Anonymous]

Here's one recent study:
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/05/18/moms-stress-in-pregnancy-may-up-babys-asthma-and.html

I also read about another study that said that babies born to very stressed-out moms (esp. during the first two trimesters) have sleeping problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stress can also increase your anxiety, cause insomnia, lower your immune system, and change your diet for the worse (in addition to what PPs have already posted). Naturally, you won't to avoid this whether pregnant or not, but being preggers makes you that much more "sensitive" since it can affect your baby and development.

But this is precisely what's she's asking PP. How can anxiety and insomnia affect your baby's development? (I get the immune system, and the diet is really too controllable to be convincing to me).

[Anonymous]

PP here. Here's the study about stress and sleep problems:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/78166.php

[Anonymous]

pls do a search on this forum for this -- i provided a link awhile back to a study out of johns hopkins that showed moderate stress during pregnancy actually built a stronger baby (organs, brain, etc). heck -- my kid must have come out as a he-man then with all the stress i had during pregnancy!

[Anonymous]

The hormones produced from extreme stress can bring on preterm labor. Happened to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:pls do a search on this forum for this -- i provided a link awhile back to a study out of johns hopkins that showed moderate stress during pregnancy actually built a stronger baby (organs, brain, etc). heck -- my kid must have come out as a he-man then with all the stress i had during pregnancy!

Read the two recent studies that I cited above.