Anxiety during pregnancy, including pregnancy anxiety is associated with preterm birth, suggests a recent study published in the journal Health Psychology.¹

A total of 196 women who had participated in the Healthy Babies Before Birth study were subjected to four different anxiety scales in the first and third trimester of pregnancy to study the association between anxiety and length of gestation. These questionnaires were related to general anxiety, pregnancy anxiety and pregnancy stressors.

After adjusting for confounding variables such as age, educational status, parity and obstetric risk, a  robust association was seen between pregnancy-related anxiety during the third trimester and shorter gestation. Assessment of general anxiety during the first trimester also correlated with a shorter gestation. Anxiety measured by the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) was predictive of early birth. Participants who had general anxiety symptoms during the first trimester and developed pregnancy anxiety in the third trimester were most likely to have a preterm delivery.

Pregnant women are routinely screened for depression. Similar to depression, anxiety too is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Based on their findings, the authors suggest pregnancy-related anxiety as a risk factor for premature birth and recommend screening pregnant women also for symptoms of anxiety in early pregnancy and anxiety specifically due to pregnancy in the third trimester. Women who exhibit significant general anxiety symptoms should be closely monitored all through the pregnancy for any increase in their symptoms. This would help identify mothers at risk of preterm births.

Reference

1. Dunkel Schetter C, et al. Anxiety in pregnancy and length of gestation: Findings from the healthy babies before birth study. Health Psychol. 2022 Sep 26. doi: 10.1037/hea000121.