Maternal Stress During Pregnancy and the Incidence of Preterm Labor

Prenatal stress and anxiety are associated with poor pregnancy outcomes multiple studies found that women with depressive and anxiety symptoms in the third trimester of pregnancy exhibit an increased likelihood of having oligohydramnios intra uterine growth restriction (IUGR) diminished placental perfusion and preterm labor. Preterm birth negatively affects the newborn child both in the short and long term. In conclusion approximately 20 % of the preterm births in this study were estimated to be due to maternal stress exposure during pregnancy as an attributable risk factor. Thus it is of great importance to identify and possibly alleviate the exposure to stress during pregnancy and by doing that try to decrease the preterm birth rate.