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WORLD / Health
Anxiety over pregnancy linked to premature birth
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-04 06:39
NEW YORK - Women who are particularly anxious about their pregnancy may
be at increased risk of premature delivery, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that among 1,820 pregnant women, those with the
greatest concerns about their pregnancy were nearly three times more
likely than those with the least anxiety to deliver prematurely. The
findings are published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Stress during pregnancy has been linked to a higher risk of complications
in some studies, though not all. And those that have identified a link
have not suggested any simple solutions to the problem.
For the current study, researchers looked specifically at women's worries
related to their pregnancy -- including anxiety over labor and delivery,
and worries about early pregnancy problems like bleeding and nausea. The
goal was to see whether the risk of preterm birth was influenced by the
types of anxiety that obstetricians can fairly easily address.
For example, a woman's fears about labor might be allayed by a thorough
discussion with her doctor, according to the study authors, led by Dr.
Suezanne T. Orr of East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
For their study, the researchers had 1,820 women complete a questionnaire
on pregnancy worries during their first visit for prenatal care. The
women were asked whether they were anxious about labor and delivery, the
health of the baby, nausea, and pain or bleeding during early pregnancy.
They were then given anxiety "scores" ranging from 0 to 6.
Overall, Orr's team found, women who scored a 5 or 6 were at greater risk
of preterm delivery than those with lower scores. This remained true when
the researchers considered factors that could both fuel women's anxiety
and raise the risk of preterm birth -- such as a history of problems in
past pregnancies, or health problems during the current pregnancy.
The findings suggest that excessive anxiety itself may contribute to
premature delivery in some women, according to Orr and her colleagues.
"If additional research confirms our findings," they write, "then this
might suggest an avenue for intervention to reduce spontaneous preterm
birth. Anxiety is a treatable condition."
They point out that pregnancy-related worries, in particular, can be
addressed with education.
"Pregnant women could receive information from their healthcare providers
about the signs and symptoms of a normal pregnancy and the process of
labor and delivery to reduce their worries and concerns about pregnancy,
and ultimately their risk of spontaneous preterm birth outcomes," the
team notes.
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