Pregnancy can be a stressful experience for many women as they have to adapt to the new situation. Pregnancy could therefore make a woman vulnerable to the onset or relapse of a mental illness. Maternal mood, stress and anxiety are associated with adverse outcomes. Across the globe, around 10% women during pregnancy and 13% of women after childbirth experience mental disorders, especially depression.1

Stress and anxiety during pregnancy can be relieved with the help of various measures including rest, healthy eating, exercise and meditation.2 A study assessed the effect of progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery on stress, anxiety, and depression in pregnant women. Relaxation was shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression in pregnant women during six sessions. Owing to the simplicity and low cost of this technique, it can be used to reduce stress and anxiety in pregnant women and improve pregnancy outcomes.1 Another study evaluated the effect of selected yoga exercises on anxiety in pregnant women in the second and third trimester. Yoga exercises, irrespective of trimesters of pregnancy, had a positive impact on women’s anxiety.3 Yoga during pregnancy assists women to focus on the delivery process and prepares them to tolerate the pain and change the stress and anxiety into energy.3 

Massage therapy has also been shown to be effective during pregnancy. Women receiving massage therapy have reported decreased depression and anxiety. Postpartum depression and cortisol levels have been shown to be decreased in the massaged women.4 In a study of 26 pregnant women assigned to a massage therapy or a relaxation therapy group for 5 weeks, both groups reported feeling less anxious after the first session and less leg pain after the first and last session. Only the massage therapy group reported reduced anxiety, improved mood, better sleep and less back pain by the last day of the study. Urinary stress hormone levels (norepinephrine) also decreased in the massage therapy group and the women had fewer complications during labor and their infants had fewer postnatal complications (e.g., less prematurity).5

Mindfulness-based interventions can also help manage anxiety and negative mood during pregnancy. A study assessed the effect of mindfulness meditation on perceived stress scores and autonomic function tests of pregnant Indian women. A significant decrease in perceived stress scores, a significant decrease of blood pressure response to cold pressor test and a significant increase in heart rate variability was evident in the test group, thus suggesting that mindfulness meditation can modulate the sympathetic nervous system and can reduce day-to-day perceived stress among pregnant women.6

Aromatherapy is another potential intervention to relieve stress and anxiety during pregnancy. A recent study evaluated the effect of aromatherapy on postpartum depression (PPD). The mean of depression score in the intervention group was found to decrease significantly compared to the placebo and control groups, 2 weeks and 6 weeks after delivery. Aromatherapy was thus shown to be effective for PPD.7

It is thus evident that anxiety and stress during pregnancy can be managed using various interventions such as exercise, meditation, massage therapy and aromatherapy.

References

1. Nasiri S, Akbari H, Tagharrobi L, Tabatabaee AS. The effect of progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery on stress, anxiety, and depression of pregnant women referred to health centers. J Edu Health Promot 2018;7:41.
2. Available at: https://americanpregnancy.org/naturally/treat-stress-naturally-pregnancy/
3. Khalajzadeh M, Shojaei M, Mirfaizi1 M. The effect of yoga on anxiety among pregnant women in second and third trimester of pregnancy. European Journal of Sports and Exercise Science 2012;1(3):85-89.
4. Field T. Pregnancy and labor massage. Expert Rev Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Mar; 5(2): 177–181.
5. Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Hart S, et al. Pregnant women benefit from massage therapy. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 1999 Mar;20(1):31-8.
6. Muthukrishnan S, Jain R, Kohli S, Batra S. Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Perceived Stress Scores and Autonomic Function Tests of Pregnant Indian Women. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. 2016;10(4):CC05-CC08.
7. Kianpour M, Moshirenia F, Kheirabadi G, et al. The effects of inhalation aromatherapy with rose and lavender at week 38 and postpartum period on postpartum depression in high-risk women referred to selected health centers of Yazd, Iran in 2015. Iranian J Nursing Midwifery Res 2018;23:395-401.