Published On : Mon, Sep 30th, 2019

How to manage anxiety and depression during pregnancy

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While it’s normal for a pregnant woman to be anxious about many things during pregnancy, severe anxiety may cause her more problems. One should know that there is a relationship between anxiety and preterm delivery and low birth weight babies, and so it’s crucial to help a woman who has anxiety during pregnancy to ease her anxiety. There are certain medications and supplements like Pregnacare Original and Wellwoman original that can be used during pregnancy to relieve the symptoms of anxiety and depression, but it’s always important for a woman to discuss that with her doctor, midwife or obstetrical care provider.

Learning how to do deep breathing during pregnancy may help, and that will come in handy during the birth as well. Learning different types of relaxation techniques or the use of meditation can also be very helpful in treating anxiety during pregnancy.

There are some warning signs that a woman should keep in mind.

  1. If she’s having excessive anxiety like she’s feeling like her pulse is racing
  2. or her heart is just beating out of her chest,
  3. or she’s having flashbacks to prior anxious episodes,
  4. or she’s feeling short of breath

All those are things that should trigger a woman to call her healthcare provider immediately.

Although pregnancy should be a happy time, up to ten percent of women are affected by depression and the hormones of pregnancy may exacerbate this condition for women who already have a pre-existing depression condition. So, it is important that women who have depression during pregnancy get seen and treated by their healthcare provider. Some risks of depression during pregnancy include a personal history of depression, family history the woman being in a difficult relationship, not getting along with her partner or an abusive relationship, women who have had a history of infertility, or also women with the history of pregnancy loss may experience depression during pregnancy.

Women with complications during the pregnancy are at higher risk. Signs of complications which are vital to notice:

  1. If they experience symptoms of mood changes
  2. When women having trouble eating
  3. Sometimes they have an over appetite
  4. Some may have difficulty sleeping
  5. Or if they are sleeping all the time
  6. And if they are feeling overwhelmed

These all are signs that she should talk to her health care provider about.

One thing that can help depression or stress during pregnancy is regular exercise. There are numerous studies to show the benefits of regular exercise in the treatment of depression and stress.

Learning how to say no is very important for pregnant women. It’s not possible to carry out every task that a woman does in a non-pregnant state when she’s pregnant, so learning how to say no to those tasks that come along is vital.

Eating a good diet that’s balanced in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and not a lot of carbohydrates, high-fat and high-sugar foods is also going to help the mental state of any pregnant woman.

Making sure she gets enough sleep every night is one of the crucial things. And also learning to let go knowing that a woman can’t be in control of every situation during pregnancy and just sitting back and learning to enjoy the moment can help a lot with the treatment of depression and stress during pregnancy.