Stress and Pregnancy

Short term stresses in life, even while pregnant, is natural and is not harmful. I am referring to every day life, job, daily responsibilities, family life, etc. However, sustained periods of severe stress can be very harmful and have been linked to negative health effects, especially for pregnant women and their babies.

In the beginning of my pregnancy, I was determined that I could keep up with and even increase my demanding schedule. I currently run my own food and consulting business, am a wife and a soon to be mom. At eight weeks pregnant, I suddenly developed allergies for the first time in my life, which my doctor agreed was due to my overly busy schedule. She kept telling me that unless I slowed down a bit and eliminated some stress, I wouldn’t get better. I assumed that my body would quickly heal itself, like it always had, without me slowing down. I was wrong! The more that I added to my schedule and the more stress that I continued to build, the worse my allergies became. I was baffled. I never used to get sick.

I realized that while I am continuously encouraging my clients to de-stress their lives, I needed to take my own advice. As I have written and said over and over, continuous external stress causes an acidic state in the body. Acidosis is the foreground for illness, depression, metabolic imbalance and has been linked to numerous negative health consequences. In pregnancy, the affects of extreme stress has been linked to miscarriage and preterm labor. I had to stop and really evaluate all of the activities in my life. It was essential to prioritize my time and find ways to release and decrease stress.

We tend to feel guilty if we are not constantly busy doing something. Do not get trapped in that vicious cycle of guilt and stress. It is unnecessary and more harmful than helpful. Once I realized I was caught in that cycle, I simply decided to let go of those feelings. The issues of daily life will always be there, so why stress about them? It won’t help the situation, rather it can cause stress and a clouded judgment. Most importantly, health comes first, and my health directly affects the health of my baby. My encouragement is that whether you are pregnant or not, your health should be your first priority because without that you can not successfully take care of yourself or the ones you love.