The toll of stress in pregnancy - and the simple techniques you could use to overcome it

28th July 2025

Pregnancy is a relatively rapid period of transformation - of the body, of the mind, of life in general. While this process for some is a beautiful phase, with excitement and joy, for others this time can be riddled with anxiety, with fear and with uncertainty. There is no ‘right’ way to feel about a pregnancy, and it is totally normal for emotions and mindset to fluctuate over the course of those 40 (on average) weeks - the hormonal changes occurring in the body to facilitate growing and sustaining a pregnancy and altering the mother’s physiology will naturally have effects on the mind as well, just as they do on a smaller scale each month with the menstrual cycle. Therefore it is also normal to feel both excitement and worry. Stress and happiness. Fear of uncertainty and enthusiasm for raising a child.

So why does it matter if a woman feels stress in pregnancy, if it can be part of a normal reaction to the changes pregnancy brings to the body and to the woman’s life?

What is 'stress'?

Firstly, let’s talk about what stress is. A general dictionary definition of stress is “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances”.¹ We’ve all experienced what it’s like to feel ‘stressed’ at some point in our lives, and that sense of stress can be over something relatively mundane such as meeting a work deadline or getting the right costume for the kids’ World Book Day, or something much bigger - the bills to pay, tension in relationships, uncertainty about housing or food, unemployment, poor health. These circumstances cause us to feel an emotional response that is generally unpleasant for us and can also result in physical symptoms: poor sleep, appetite changes, fatigue, stomach issues, headaches and sexual dysfunction to name a few.²

There are a wide variety of reasons why a woman may experience stress during her pregnancy, and these can be split into two categories based on whether they are related to pregnancy or not. Pregnancy-specific stress includes worrying about potential for miscarriage, concern over pregnancy symptoms, fears about labour and birth, or the anxiety of becoming a mother. Other forms of stress (known collectively in the literature as ‘psychosocial’ stress) are factors which cause stress regardless of being pregnant or not, such as home and work demands, relationship stress, finances, discrimination and general health (of oneself and/or loved ones).³ Women can also be affected to varying degrees by stress in their life; stressors can be long-term and persistent, and/or transient, and the extent to which each person is affected by stress depends on a wide range of factors which will be detailed later on.

Why does stress matter?

So now we know what ‘stress’ is, we can start to answer the question of why it matters if a woman is ‘stressed’ during pregnancy. Stress is inevitable at times, however chronic stress (prolonged periods of or repeated stress) can lead to a wide variety of problems during pregnancy (and in life in general, but that is outside the scope of this piece).

Firstly, the presence of stress is a key risk factor in the development of mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, which in themselves carry increased risks of preterm birth and/or low birth weight, and therefore also the subsequent developmental problems which can occur with prematurity.⁴ Poor mental health can affect bonding between mother and child and alter the mother’s parenting ability which can also lead to effects on the neurocognitive development of the child. It also cannot be ignored that mental health disorders in the perinatal period significantly increase the risk of maternal suicide, which remains the leading cause of maternal death in the postnatal period (between 6 weeks - 1 year after birth).⁵

Secondly, maternal stress during pregnancy can affect the mother’s physical health. Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, or the ‘fight or flight’ response, and when this occurs over a period of time (as in chronic stress), one effect can be a rise in blood pressure. During pregnancy, this can give rise to dysfunction of the placenta, increased risk of pre-eclampsia and need for intervention at birth such as induction of labour.⁶

Furthermore, at the time of birth, high levels of stress can lead to a slowing of the progression of labour due to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, causing release of noradrenaline and adrenaline, and countering the effects of oxytocin, a key hormone responsible for the regular, coordinated contractions of the womb during labour. Another possible mechanism of labour slowing is that stress itself may cause a reduction in the release of oxytocin from the brain in the first place, leading to a reduction in the frequency or strength of contractions.⁷

The cycle of stress

One major difficulty with stress is that its presence tends to lead to behaviours which further exacerbate stress, which can in turn either lead to higher risks of health problems or cause a negative spiral into even more stress. Feeling stressed can drive one to eat less healthily, tending towards quick and easy foods which are highly processed and carry their own health risks. High levels of stress may lead one to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol or take recreational drugs as coping mechanisms, all of which carry higher risks to mother and child in pregnancy. Even having poor sleep as a result of feeling stressed, can give rise to further stress due to the irritability and fatigue that comes with lack of sleep.

Putting all of these problems together, it stands to reason that finding ways to manage stress during pregnancy can only be beneficial to mother and baby, both in the short and long term. But what can this look like? How do you actually manage stress? Many of the stressors mentioned above are not necessarily problems which can be solved or issues for which there’s a ‘quick fix’.

But here’s the thing - reducing stress is not about removing stress, but learning ways to better respond to stress that we will inevitably face.

Unfortunately, life will always throw stress at us - it is impossible to live a life in which we experience no stressful situations whatsoever. But it is our ability to manage stress as it arises, that determines how well we cope. This is known as resilience. Resilience varies from person to person and also by situation - it explains why one person may be able to remain relatively calm and pragmatic if their flight has been cancelled, for example, while another person may become very anxious and upset, but that first person may suffer burnout when faced with high levels of work stress. Our resilience is determined by many different factors - who we are (based on genetics, personality, conditioning throughout upbringing), what we have experienced in life (exposure to adversity and how we have previously coped) and our current situation (presence of stress vs protective factors).⁸

When faced with stress, we will all have different resilience processes we can put into place to help us manage - this could include relying on support from friends and family, doing a relaxing activity like taking a bath or walking the dog. Pregnancy is a unique state which presents quite the challenge to resilience since it involves huge physiological shifts in the mother’s body, experience of a physically demanding birth process (for both vaginal and caesarean birth) and total upheaval of her lifestyle; additionally for first-time mothers this challenge is a completely novel one.

There may be many uncertainties during this time, especially at the time of labour and birth, when there may be a sudden change of plan based on clinical emergency, or unexpected complications may arise as labour evolves. It is therefore vitally important for a woman to build resilience during her pregnancy in order to be able to adapt and cope with stress she may encounter during pregnancy, labour and recovery afterwards, indeed also into parenthood and beyond.

Meditation and Mindfulness as tools to reduce stress and build resilience

Here’s where Meditation comes in. Practising meditation and mindfulness can help build resilience to stress, meaning one can better adapt when stressful situations arise. In the short-term, meditation techniques can help bring a sense of calm in the mind and body, which is particularly useful in moments of acute stress or panic as meditation can switch on the parasympathetic nervous system (also known as the ‘rest and digest’ system, the opposing system to ‘fight or flight’).

But in the longer term, regular practice of meditation can also help with development of self-awareness, allowing understanding of how emotions, thoughts and behaviours affect each other, which can lead to improved self-regulation, emotional reactivity and that building of resilience⁹ - allowing you to respond to stressful or emotional situations, rather than react. There are, of course, many more benefits to a meditation practice, but they are beyond the scope of this article.

So, using meditation techniques during pregnancy can be a great way to help build resilience and reduce the extent to which a mother is affected by stress which may arise (whether it be pregnancy-related or not). With reduced feelings of stress comes the knock-on beneficial effects of reducing risk of mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, potential for improved bonding between mother and child, along with wider benefits to the woman’s life such as improved sleep, increased likelihood to engage in healthy behaviours and strengthened relationships with her support system.10

Meditation techniques to try

So how do we do it?! There are many different meditation techniques, making it a versatile practice that can be suitable for everyone, it is only a case of finding the techniques to suit each person. These range from meditations focusing on the breath, use of a mantra (a word or phrase repeated silently in the mind to aid focus), visualisations, cultivation practices like gratitude or loving-kindness, to mindfulness. Here are some ways to practice meditation in pregnancy, and how they can be particularly helpful:

Breath meditation techniques such as box breathing (breathing in to a count of 4, holding for 4, breathing out for 4, holding for 4, and repeating as many times as you wish) or 4-7-8 breathing (breathing in to a count of 4, holding for 7, breathing out slowly for 8). These techniques activate the parasympathetic nervous system (‘rest and digest’) which help slow your heart rate, reduce your blood pressure, and bring about a feeling of calm. These techniques are particularly helpful when feeling panicked or overwhelmed as they have an immediate effect.

Loving-kindness (metta) meditation. This is a practice with roots in Buddhism and involves repeating a set of phrases in your mind that cultivate kindness and compassion towards yourself and others. An example could be ‘May I/you be happy, May I/you be healthy, May all things go well for me/you’. This cultivation can improve self-compassion (especially important for those who tend towards self-criticism) and strengthen relationships with others (including your baby), which can help your sense of connection at a time when support from others will be so important.

Visualisations. These techniques involve bringing an image or a sense of a particular scenario to your mind, often a calming scene, to not only help you feel calmer but also to imagine your worries being cast away from you. One example is imagining a calm flowing stream, with your thoughts or worries being leaves on the stream which can pass you by as you stand on the riverbank.These are particularly helpful if you are overwhelmed with many negative thoughts or worries, perhaps feeling stuck in a spiral, as it can help you detach from the thoughts.

There are many more techniques of meditation but this simply lists a few, and trying a variety will be most beneficial to help find techniques best suited to your particular goal (relaxation, increased self-compassion, self-awareness etc) and lifestyle. In the same way that physical exercise can mean a wide range of things from playing football to swimming to salsa dancing, and certain forms of exercise suit people more than others, so it is the same with meditation, so don’t give up if your first experience of meditation doesn’t suit you - it may just mean you need to try a different technique.

Mindful walking. Mindfulness is a concept in which we open our awareness to take in all that is around us and within us using all the senses, accepting what we find without judgement or striving to achieve anything in particular. Practices like mindful walking are a great way to practise the skill of mindfulness (plus walking gives you physical benefit too). Choose a place to walk, and set the intention to be present, and start noticing what you can see, hear, touch, smell, even taste, and notice thoughts that arise for you as this happens.

Try to notice if you become caught up in thoughts about something you notice - for example, you notice a bird flying into a tree, so start wondering if you’ve seen that bird before, then thinking about where you might have seen it and so on - and gently bring your mind back to what you’re noticing right now. This technique is really helpful for those prone to worrying, since worrying lives entirely outside of the present moment, so by practising being present and letting go of thoughts that are not the present, you can reduce anxiety and overthinking. Mindfulness is a huge topic and has many more useful practices, and you can read more about it elsewhere on this website or on Mindfully Hannah's social media pages.

In conclusion, the title of this post is a bit misleading. Meditation and mindfulness techniques won’t remove stress from your pregnancy or your life in general. But they can equip you with an arsenal of tools you can deploy when faced with different stressors, so you can better manage your response to stress, and build resilience. You will always face stress at times, or sadness, or anxiety, or pain. You cannot remove negative emotions and thoughts from life completely, it doesn’t work that way, but you can help yourself get through life with a sense of - ‘I’ve got this’ - by transforming the way you respond to stress and uncertainty, and meditation and mindfulness can help you do just that.

Resilience to stress, not removal of stress

You can learn more about how to use meditation and mindfulness in your life with our meditation classes, workshops and courses, some of which are exclusively for pregnancy. Make sure to follow Mindfully Hannah on social media or sign up to our newsletter for details of upcoming events.

References

Oxford University Press. (2025). Stress. In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved 18th June 2025.
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/feelings-and-symptoms/stress/ . Accessed 27th June 2025.
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Dunkel Schetter C, Tanner L. Anxiety, depression and stress in pregnancy: implications for mothers, children, research, and practice. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2012 Mar;25(2):141-8. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0b013e3283503680. PMID: 22262028; PMCID: PMC4447112.
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Leeners, B., Neumaier-Wagner, P., Kuse, S., Stiller, R., & Rath, W. (2007). Emotional Stress and the Risk to Develop Hypertensive Diseases in Pregnancy. Hypertension in Pregnancy, 26(2), 211–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/10641950701274870
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