The stress risks involved in pregnancy

Pregnancy means change, and the stress of change often brings on female stress symptoms. If you are a mother, think of all that changed for you during pregnancy. Most obvious, of course, was the change in your body and perhaps your assessment of your attractiveness. Your health-care responsibilities broadened and alcohol, nicotine, and medication intake had to be monitored.

Your activity level probably changed as a result of morning sickness, which 70 percent of women experience as their estrogen level climbs. If your mate told you that your morning sickness was "in your head" and you knew that it was in your stomach, further stress was obviously added to an already unhappy situation. Your activity level may have slowed even more as your size and weight increased, but soon after delivery you came to suspect that you might never have a moment to sit still again.

Remember, too, how many financial changes were taking place: impending medical and hospital bills, perhaps the end of your wage-earning for a while, or the beginning of life insurance and saving deposits. And these expenses were just the beginning!

Women often find that their time frame changes during pregnancy. For many women, all plans become focused on the due date, and all experiences are remembered as being far from, or close to, delivery. It is even more important to an understanding of the Female Stress Syndrome to realize that many women do not have clear plans or expectations beyond that date.

Women may have studied reproduction in biology class, genetics and conception in anatomy and physiology courses, natural childbirth methods in Lamaze classes, gentle birth in LeBoyer's books, and neonatal care in maternity classes—but most have never studied mothering! Expectations of motherhood are often no closer to reality than a cartoon is to life; the demands and disappointments this can lead to contribute to the Female Stress Syndrome.

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