How to Relieve Stress When Pregnant?

The phase before childbirth is filled with anxiousness and vulnerability for women. Maintaining calmness is a task. The thought of having a baby and a massive change in your life is exciting but also overwhelming.

During the phase of pregnancy, you will deal with irritated mood, stress, depression, and anxiety, and all of them are interlinked.

How can you tackle stress while being pregnant?

Find the root cause of your stress.
Talk to someone who will understand you.
Do what you love, like hobbies or passion.
Try yoga and meditation to relieve stress.
Try to achieve mindfulness.
You can opt for a session of acupuncture and aromatherapy.
Get help from trusted and close people.
Eat healthy and have sound sleep.
Drink peppermint tea to reduce stress.
Try a relaxing massage session to reduce stress and get sound sleep.

Tips for Dealing with Pregnancy Anxiety and Stress

While pregnant, physical as well as mental health is significant. You need to stay stress-free, healthy, and happy during pregnancy. Tips will help to keep your stress at bay during pregnancy.

Tackling stress while pregnant- tips to follow

–Talk to a close person
-Consume peppermint tea
-Exercise as per the advice of the doctor
-Eat good pregnancy snacks
-Sleep well
-Stretch yourself

Talk To Someone

Most of the time, stress arises due to a lack of communication and overthinking. While thinking about your childbirth, specific worries can lead to stress. Talk to someone close to you like your partner or someone who has given birth or will understand.

Drink Peppermint Tea

Peppermint leaves have menthol in it that works like a sedative and help the muscles to relax. It helps to reduce stomach issues and reduce vomiting and nausea. It reduces stress naturally. It doesn’t contain caffeine, so it won’t impose health hazards.

Massage For De-stress

A great massage session can help in relaxing your muscles and reduce stress in times of pregnancy. Use oil to reduce friction during massage. Focus on the breathing pattern and see how your stress is melting away. Coping with stress will help in keeping the unborn one healthy.

Stretch

When you are stressed, your body will release hormones that will make your muscles feel tightened and tensed up. Stretching helps in dealing with muscle tightness. Stretch your legs, arms, back, and neck. During stretching, concentrate on your breathing pattern.

Breathing

When you are taking a lot of stress, it is going to affect your breathing. A stressed person will take short and shallow breaths, which will decrease the body’s oxygen content. It will increase stress level in the body.

It is essential to focus on breathing when you are meditating. You can breathe in through your nose and breath out through your mouth and pay attention to how your chest is rising and falling. It helps in relieving stress.

Get Enough Sleep

When we are awake, the body’s neurotransmitter keeps on depleting, so when we are sleeping, it helps restore the neurotransmitters. Sound sleep is important for pregnant women.

During the third trimester, it becomes uncomfortable for the mother to sleep comfortably. You can try a gentle massage, a relaxing bath, and soothing music to fall asleep quickly.

Why is it important to get plenty of sleep?

-It helps in the restoration of neurotransmitters.
-It helps in reducing stress.
-It helps to monitor the level of growth hormone during pregnancy.
-It improves brain function and immunity of the mother.
-Sleep helps you feel better.

Accept Help

Avoid doing everything on your own. During the phase of pregnancy, you can accept help from people around you as you will need them often. It helps in preventing stress.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture can be beneficial during pregnancy as it helps in taming stress, depression, and is relaxing. One needs to get it from an authorized place to ensure the effectiveness of the session. Also, understand how you can easily deal with morning sickness while at work.

Pregnancy Yoga

Yoga ensures the well-being of physical and mental health. It helps in making you feel active and strengthens the body. It will keep body pain and aches at bay. In yoga, you will do meditation that helps in relieving stress, reduce depression, and anxiety during pregnancy.

Benefits of the Pregnancy Yoga

-Yoga helps in lightening the mood.
-Yoga is good to calm the mind.
-You are going to feel extremely active.
-Yoga will help you be more mindful.
-It will allow you to eat properly.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is to connect with everything that’s around us. Instead of losing oneself in negative thoughts, mindfulness will allow a person to enjoy in the present moment.

Take your time and concentrate on the baby’s kicks or the sunlight on your face. By focusing on and observing the present, you can achieve mindfulness.

Eat Well

During pregnancy, your body will demand healthy food. Take regular meals so that it won’t affect the blood sugar level.

Not having enough food can make you feel irritated and tired. Keep yourself hydrated as dehydration affects our mood. To boost your mood, you can have warm milk.

Related: Bed Rest During Pregnancy

Treat Yourself

Laughter is the best medicine when you are stressed. If you feel stressed up, then you can meet with your friends and spend the evening having good conversations. You can also treat yourself in your favorite restaurant, watch your favorite movie, read your favorite book, or visit a place with your partner that you have always wanted.

Pregnancy tends to take an unwanted toll and increase anxiety levels. Learn to manage your stress instead of being harsh on yourself. Stress is also harmful to the baby.

Try Epsom Salt Bath

Epsom salt has stress-relieving properties. It has magnesium, which is known as an anti-stress ingredient. It allows the nervous system to relieve stress and muscle tension that is caused by anxiety. When you go for Epsom salt, you will sleep comfortably and stress-free.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy can help in reducing anxiety and stress levels. One can use herbs like chamomile, lavender, and ylang-ylang for aromatherapy. It helps to de-stress. Try aromatherapy only with a certified therapist to avoid complications in pregnancy.

Also, take care of all financial preparations before the baby arrives so that you do not have any stress.

Advantages of aromatherapy:

-Aromatherapy increases contentment.
-It works to reduce stress.
-It decreases the cortisol levels in the body, which is known as the stress hormone.
-Helps in tackling anxiety.
-It eases the discomfort during labor.
-It helps to reduce all unwanted pregnancy complications.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on How to Cope With Stress During Pregnancy

Can stress affect pregnant women?

Yes, when you’re dealing with stress for a long time during pregnancy, it will lead to heart disease and high blood pressure. An increased amount of stress can also lead to lower baby weight after birth or premature baby during pregnancy.

How to know the baby is stressed in the womb?

When the baby in the womb is stressed, it will show various signs like decreased heart rate, an abnormal heart rate that is either slow or too fast.

Do negative thoughts affect pregnancy?

Yes, the hormones which are released by the pregnant mother are transported to the womb. So in this way, the stress hormones will get mixed with the bloodstream and affect the baby in the womb.

Final Thoughts

It is necessary to find the root cause of your stress, whether it is monetary issues, work-related stress or fear of childbirth, etc. Pregnancy can interfere with your hormones, so you will continuously experience mood swings, which will make you feel irritated. It is essential to follow a healthy lifestyle, control what you eat, and get plenty of sleep to stay in a good mood.