Over Anxiety During Pregnancy : Are You Worrying Too Much?

The level of anxiety may elevate slightly if the mother gets pregnant after some treatment for infertility or if she has a history of miscarriage. Similarly, being slightly thoughtful about managing the house and working together with a baby or the reaction of the older sibling towards the little one or even financial matters associated with the new member are also quite normal.

What Are The Signs Of Over Anxiety During Pregnancy?

Over-anxiety is totally different from normal anxiety during pregnancy. It is called antenatal anxiety. It requires care and skill to determine antenatal anxiety during pregnancy since its signs are almost similar to the sign of pregnancy, including, mood swings, changes in energy levels, concentrating power, and sleep patterns.

Anyway, if you show the following signs then it is better to talk to your health care provider. If not recognized and treated on time, severe anxiety can affect the health of both mother and child.

• Feeling very low energy levels
• Disturbed sleep
• Unexplained guilt feeling
• Highly reduced concentrating power
• Not able to enjoy the things that you enjoyed before like music, movies, books etc.
• Feeling highly depressed continuously for around two weeks
• Loss of appetite altogether
• Having heart palpitations and sweating profusely and tightness in the chest almost feels like having a heart attack (frequently).
• Uncontrollable, persistent, and recurrent thoughts about suicide

Am I Prone To Severe Anxiety During Pregnancy?

Anybody can encounter depression or anxiety in the course of pregnancy, yet women with the following risk factors are more liable to have severe anxiety during pregnancy.

• Women with a previous history of anxiety attacks
• Women with a previous history of pregnancy loss
• Women with a family history of depression
• Women already diagnosed with an anxiety disorder(before pregnancy)
• Getting pregnant at a very young age (below twenty years)
• Women with poor social support and poor support from home, especially if she is widowed, living far away from their husband, or even divorced
• Women with poor financial status
• Women who already have more than two kids

Why Is It Important To Seek The Help For Antenatal Anxiety?

If left untreated assuming that anxiety and depression will resolve themselves once the baby is born, can result in several problems for the mother and child. Here are a few reasons which show the importance of treating severe anxiety during pregnancy.

• If the severe anxiety is left untreated, the mother has an increased chance of undergoing severe postpartum depression after delivery. Though depression and anxiety are not always occurred together, handling the anxiety well during pregnancy definitely helps to reduce the chances of depression after delivery
• Long-lasting and severe anxiety during pregnancy can affect the development of the child as it can trigger preterm delivery
• Studies show that a child born to a mother with untreated severe anxiety can develop behavioral or emotional issues
• The suicidal notion of the mother is very dangerous and leaving them unattended can result in some misfortunate events

How Can Severe Anxiety During Pregnancy Be Treated?

The treatment of severe anxiety during pregnancy can be either with medication or with some non-medication methods.

1. Severe Anxiety Treatment With Medication

Intake of medication for anxiety during pregnancy depends on several factors like the physical health of mother and child, age of the mother, which month of gestation the mother is going through, etc. if the doctor finds it is important to take medicines for a non-problematic pregnancy and delivery, never hesitate and go ahead with the doctor’s instructions. Your practitioner with the help of a well-trained therapist can definitely pick the medicines which are both beneficial and possesses low-risk factors

2. Severe Anxiety Treatment Without Medication

While intake of medicines is one answer for severe anxiety, it surely isn’t the one and only.

1. Consulting Therapist

Treatment sessions with a psychoanalyst, therapist, or instructor are dependably the first and most ideal approach to pinpoint the root cause of anxiety and build up an arrangement to help the mother to facilitate her stresses or learn different relaxation methods.

2. Eating Well

Research has proved that what you eat can highly affect your emotional wellness. Eating well-balanced nutrient-filled natural food (counting organic products, vegetables, fish, and dairy products) — rather than fast food and processed food is favorable for the healthy bacteria in the gut. This, in turn, results in lessening the anxiety.

3. Sleep Well

Lack of sleep will aggravate anxiety. So always try to sleep at least 8 hours every night and have a short nap whenever possible.

4. Meditation And Yoga

Practicing yoga, especially asana which helps in relaxing will definitely help in managing anxiety. By practicing yoga and meditation regularly, the mother is actually finding some quality time to relax. This will, no doubt, help in reducing anxiety to a significant extent.

5. Stay Active

Even a ten-minute walk can help in reducing the tension. Staying active both mentally and physically can help to reduce severe anxiety.

Listen to no one, either pregnant or not, either male or female, either child or adult, can be free from anxiety or depression. Only its severity level changes, only the reasons change. Do you know that anxiety is an important factor that makes us survive? Being anxious, to some extent, means being cautious. You are a just little over-anxious. That is all. So go ahead with your pregnancy happily by following your doctor’s instructions.

FAQs

1. Does Anxiety During Pregnancy Affect The Fetus?

Research indicates that anxiety may have detrimental effects on both the mother and the fetus. Extreme or persistent maternal anxiety alters the baby’s blood flow, making it challenging for the baby’s developing organs to receive oxygen and other vital nutrients. Preterm delivery, low birth weight, early gestation, and a smaller head circumference are all risk factors for anxiety.

2. Can Anxiety Be Passed From Mother To Child?

According to a new study, pregnancy-related anxiety does not directly affect the unborn child. However, in their later life, emotional issues, hyperactivity disorder, decentralization, and disruptions in children’s cognitive development are also associated with anxiety during pregnancy.

3. Is It Normal To Have High Anxiety During Pregnancy?

It’s natural to feel nervous about having a kid, giving birth, and becoming a parent during pregnancy.It affects more than 10% of pregnant women. But if it goes too far, it needs to be treated as an emergency.