Beware Future Mums! Here Are The Five Ways Stress Can Affect Your Pregnancy

However, there may be something you're forgetting; your stress level. Being under extreme stress while pregnant can actually cause problems for your baby.

Here are 5 ways stress can affect your pregnancy:

• Preterm Labor and Premature Birth

One in eight babies born in the United States each year will be premature.

Medically speaking, this means that he or she will be born at less than 37 weeks gestation and will not have fully formed organs.

• Miscarriage

Miscarriage is every pregnant woman's nightmare.

Studies have indicated that there is a link between miscarriage and high levels of stress, especially early in the pregnancy or just before conception.

In short, your pregnant body's reaction to stress can lead to a miscarriage if it happens early in pregnancy.

• Low Birth Weight

Babies with low birth weight are at greater risk for health problems like hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and must be closely monitored to ensure that they are growing at a normal rate.

Stress hormones such as epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol can all cause blood vessels to constrict, and this potentially includes the blood flow to the baby via the umbilical cord. In this case, the fetus may not be absorbing enough nutrients from the mother's body.

• Increased Risk of Infection

In addition to directly causing problems during pregnancy, the hormones produced by stress can also weaken the immune system.

Chronic stress, however, can result in reduced numbers of cells that fight off viral and bacterial infections.

• Increased Risks of Problems Later On

So far, we've only looked at the near future; however, some researchers think that chronic stress during a pregnancy can result in issues that may not manifest until later in life.

Stress may affect the development of the baby's brain when the high levels of hormones cross into the placenta.

These problems may be emotional, behavioral or physical and may result in irritable, anxious babies.