Causes of anxiety during pregnancy and how to cope with it

Anxiety is the ability to feel nervous, fear and/ or worry about a bad event that you anticipate to have a high possibility of occurring or even when you expect the occurrence of an event that does not necessarily have to produce a negative effect such as pregnancy. Pregnancy delivers one of the most pulchritude news in a person’s life of being able to welcome a new child into this world. Even though this may not be a shared positive event of life for others, both groups of pregnant women can greatly influence the manner in which anxiety habituates in one’s life.

Causes of anxiety during pregnancy

1. Nervousness of becoming a parent especially for new parents or even for parents who have had a previous child whom they did not raise (the child was either given up for adaption or the parent suffered loosing the child to death). The expecting mother wonders whether they will be able to be a good parent to their future child or children and whether they have read enough parenting material to help prepare them for the parenthood journey ahead.

2. Elderly parents who have already raised their pact of children and find themselves undergoing this stage of life once again especially when it was unplanned can become anxious. An elderly parent can tend to wonder if they will manage to raise their newly expected child or children in the best way possible in spite of their body changes as they grow older, in spite of the fact that they are heading to retirement, in spite of the sociological appeal of raising children while you are younger etc. Another fact that arise with elderly pregnancy is the wonder whether the expecting mother will be able to handle the labor birth process. It is more riskier for both the mother and child during this process especially if the mother is already above fifty years and majority are advised to opt for a c-section procedure that provides higher security in baby delivery and mother’s survival.

3. Prior health conditions of expectant mother can make her anxious. For example, if the expecting mother has suffered from low blood count levels she is advised to make sure to eat foods that will increase the blood level in order to avoid a miscarriage. Other severe cases can be a health disease such as cancer in which the mother would be advised to undergo treatment that may cause a miscarriage or even still yet have a slim possibility of the child surviving.

4. Depression or stress. This is especially articulated to the mental, emotional health of the mother as well as the environmental factors that influence her mental and emotional health. Anxiety during pregnancy in this principle can still occur if the expecting mother may have suffered stressful conditions or depression prior to the pregnancy and never got the right treatment for this health condition or had to avoid ingesting some depression medicines in order to avoid harming the child.

5. Changes of lifestyle and habits. When one is pregnant they need to observe their diet and body health. This means that they should not consume any alcoholic beverages in order to not harm the baby’s development. for an alcoholic expecting mother this may become very hard and she will undergo several episodes of anxieties as she tries to cut off from ingesting alcoholic drinks. This same principle is attributed to expecting mothers who are drug addicts as they will need to immediately eliminate the ingestion of these drugs and will severe similar effects.


6. Expectant mothers over analysis of the pregnancy process and fear of the birthing process can also cause anxiety during pregnancy.

How to cope with anxiety during pregnancy

1. The first thing would be talk to someone about the anxieties that arise during the pregnancy. Whether it is trusted companion, friend, relative etc talking will help to not bottle it up inside.

2. If the anxiety has over exceeded the normal levels and is now causing panic attacks, the expectant mother should consult a professional for help. This way they will receive direct professional advice on how to cope with the episodes.

3. Exercise as often as possible this helps to utilize the adrenaline produced and relax the nerves of the expecting mother
4. Avoid worrying too much in order to reduce the levels of stress.

5. Eat healthy foods especially vegetables and fruits that do help with reducing the levels of anxiety.

6. Sleep and get as much as possible in order to not strain your body.

Maintaining a good healthy life during pregnancy is very beneficial and the ability to control anxiety will go a long way towards ensuring the physiological health of your baby. You will also find it easier to cope with the daily activities once you deliver your child with having learned how to control your anxiety during pregnancy.