Overview
Taking care of your mind before you take care of your body by managing your stress will ensure that you’re more productive. Being nervous leads to an increased heart rate, sweaty palms, anxiety various other uncomfortable physical symptoms.
Pregnancy anxiety can affect women in all stages of pregnancy and can even make things even harder for those who just wanted a fun, stress-free pregnancy. The best advice that can be given to you is to know what is causing your anxiety and to identify which anxiety symptoms are contributing to your symptoms and which are merely associated with them.
If you know what the real problem is and are doing your best to solve it, you should not experience a return of your anxiety.
What causes anxiety during pregnancy?
Your hormone levels and the chemicals in your brain can change during pregnancy. Hormones are chemicals that help carry messages from your brain to your body. The hormones you release during pregnancy do more than just carry messages from your brain. They influence your body’s internal chemistry and your brain’s chemicals.
Hormonal changes and physical stress are some of the most obvious causes of anxiety in women who are pregnant. These changes can be recognized at the prenatal check-ups when there is a larger vaginal swelling, itching, burning, and other problems.
For example, hormones can make certain parts of your body grow, change, and make changes in other parts of your body. Hormones also can affect your health, including your heart and other organs. Hormones can be changed by medications or lifestyle changes.
For example, a woman can take birth control pills or hormone therapy. These hormones change your body’s hormonal balance and can lead to changes in your brain and behavior. Both changing your body’s chemical balance and changing your brain’s chemical balance can make it difficult to maintain balance during pregnancy. Read more about hormone changes during pregnancy.
Hormones
Hormones have major impacts on the development and functioning of your body. For example, hormones impact a baby’s growth, well-being, and development of the heart, lungs, muscles, and bones. Hormones affect brain development and whether a baby is fussy or irritable. Hormones affect how much the body uses oxygen and how much it uses nutrients (including calcium) and fatty acids.
Hormones are also important during puberty, pregnancy, after birth, and within one year after you have a baby. Hormones can make or break the pregnancy. Changes to hormones during pregnancy can also affect your health after you have a baby. They also can affect your heart and other organs. Hormones can be changed by medications or lifestyle changes.
- Adverse fetal brain development
- Lack of sleep
- Coping with challenges and excitement
- Coping with stress and worries
- Experiencing sudden changes in diet or sleep habits
- Hyper-vigilance during the prenatal period
- Problems that occur during the pregnancy, such as fetal limb malformations or sudden, premature birth
- Stress, especially if it involves responsibilities outside of the home.
- Living conditions of the mother.
- Physiological or genetic factors
- Psychological problems of the mother.
Symptoms for anxiety during pregnancy
Stress Hormone surge
The most common symptoms are higher levels of stress hormones in pregnant women, called the stress hormone surge, which has been identified as the cause of the more severe symptoms such as high blood pressure and premature labor.
Other physiological changes which can cause anxiety include
Firstly, a woman’s weight gain during pregnancy can cause changes to the body’s chemistry, which can affect the way the brain functions. Often, during pregnancy, a woman feels chronically tired. Many women also have abdominal pain, which can make her feel even more insecure. This is because the female pelvic floor is responsible for supporting the baby and the uterus.
Although pregnancy is a time of increased hormone activity, the heightened hormone levels during pregnancy are far from normal and, in most cases, a normal response to this hormonal stress.
Secondly, a woman’s body is in a constant state of flux, always reacting to something new and demanding. This means that she experiences changes in mood, feelings, and appetite. Her hormones may go up as she is eating and feeling full, and go down as she becomes less hungry.
When her body is constantly taking in and processing new information, the resulting neural connections in her brain can become overloaded. This is similar to stress itself, in that she feels uncomfortable and anxious about a situation, but there is little that she can do to cope.
As a result, the resulting cycle of changes and reactions is unresponsive to rational thought. This creates what is known as a tension headache. The symptoms associated with a tension headache are the same as those of pregnancy and particularly the fear of impending pregnancy, which is in some ways more stressful and painful.
The physical mechanism of the tension headache is the same as it is for pregnancy. It is caused by the nervous system. The nervous system is a huge organ that houses the nerve endings that give us sensations of touch, temperature, pain, and touch.
When the nervous system is “wired,” or in constant pain, it creates one of the earliest signs of a tension headache. They all have more or less the same symptoms, though the form is different in each case. In the case of the stress headache, the symptoms are simply uncomfortable and tense. Stress-induced tension headaches occur more frequently in women than in men, with roughly one in five women developing them.
Risk Factor of anxiety
Social anxiety disorder is a common pregnancy anxiety disorder, affecting as many as one in 10 women. People with a social anxiety disorder are preoccupied with thoughts of being embarrassed or rejected by other people, and/or are worried about the reactions they are likely to receive. People with a social anxiety disorder may have frequent feelings of helplessness or frustration that are distressing and difficult to cope with.
These feelings may come on suddenly or may be caused by small and seemingly unrelated events, such as starting or changing a baby’s feeding schedule. Women with a social anxiety disorder may be particularly reluctant to talk about their problems with other people and may avoid going to social settings such as theaters or social functions. Many women with social anxiety disorder try to avoid mirrors, rooms where others gather, or situations where others may see them.
Treatment
Things to avoid in the weeks before and during pregnancy
It’s important to let your body get used to pregnancy. Have fun with weight gain during the first trimester, for example. If you are apprehensive about pregnancy, remind yourself:
– This is normal and healthy
– There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re amazing!
– You will grow
– Get out there and do it!
– If it’s uncomfortable, then you can start spending more time at home.
– Talk to your partner
– Aim for natural childbirth
Find a routine to overcome
Do something you’re comfortable with. Even if you need a little motivation to start on a new habit, it’s an excellent habit to start. Start one daily at 8 a.m. and do something familiar to you like walking or brushing your teeth. People who write blog posts usually turn on a laptop at the same time and go on their day, whether it’s at 10 p.m. or 5 a.m. Regardless of what it is you do, maintain a routine in which you get up and go to your preferred place. Without that routine, you won’t become productive at any task.
Some Tips for anxiety during pregnancy
Tell someone
If you are experiencing severe anxiety, there may be a medication that can be used for your anxiety and other symptoms. Talk to your doctor about your options or tell someone who is close to you and well aware this information so that they can help you.
During pregnancy, if you are depressed, it can be very difficult to feel positive about your pregnancy. This is true for women who are both depressed and pregnant. Be sure to tell your doctor or midwife that you are depressed if you have anxiety or depression during your pregnancy, especially if you have been diagnosed with BPD.
Information about antidepressants
Take some information about the antidepressants. It is often difficult to choose the right medication, so it is worth checking with your doctor. Follow the instructions that your doctor gives you. They might also talk to other people who have taken an antidepressant before you. You may need to take the medicines in a certain way for the medication to work. Some people might have side effects that need to be discussed with their doctor.
Information about depression
Go through the information related to depression. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist if you are not sure what to do. Remember to take this medicine on the correct day. If you do not take it on the correct day, you could have unpleasant side effects. Taking the correct medicine at the right time can make all the difference in how well it works. If you have suicidal thoughts, remember that you can call your doctor for help.
Information about maintaining your mental health.
Know your mental health because it is important in the long run. Mental health will be the downfall of any attempt to complete your goals. You’ll be better for it, and you’ll be way happier about it. Go to the source and get to the roots of the problems you are facing.
Decrease stress and strain
Do not let stress affect you, this might increase your anxiety levels.
You can use meditation and relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety. You may want to try some of these techniques. Trying to read the book would be a good idea, especially for someone who is still working through the content.
Give your mind a rest
Refocus your attention on the tasks you have to complete
Stay focused on those important tasks. Try to complete each one first and then change to the next.
Make it a daily habit to change your mind up if you start thinking about something else.
Positive and Reassuring Dreams
Negative dreams are important for health of the brain and there are few dreams of women that has certain diseases. One such great dream of Japanese women is dreaming about healthy baby. But dreaming about good baby can give you a sense of safety.
Self-help tips
Try this stress-management methods. Go for a long walk before your appointment. Try mindfulness exercises, such as walking meditation. Talk to your doctor about anything you are worried about, including going into labor prematurely. Your doctor is in charge of your pregnancy, and he can help you sort through any fears that your body has brought up. He or she will be able to help you understand your body and work with you on changing your life to better suit you.
Bottom Line
Anxiety during pregnancy is not hazardous. But can be hazardous if not treated in time and properly. So going for check-ups and taking necessary treatment is important during pregnancy. These are some of positive and reassuring dreams of women who have a healthy pregnancy. It is known that positive dreams can calm you down and they can also revive your healthy mind.
Sirisha B 
Raju Ch