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Women who are particularly anxious about their pregnancy may be at increased risk of premature delivery, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that among 1820 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 were 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 labour and delivery, and worries about early pregnancy problems like bleeding and nausea.
The goal was to see whether the risk of pre-term birth was influenced by the types of anxiety that obstetricians can fairly easily address.
For example, a woman's fears about labour 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 the United States.
For their study, the researchers had 1820 women complete a questionnaire on pregnancy worries during their first appointment for prenatal care.
The women were asked whether they were anxious about labour and delivery, the health of the baby, nausea, and pain or bleeding during early pregnancy.
They were then given anxiety "scores" ranging from zero to six.
Overall, Orr's team found that women who scored a five or six were at greater risk of pre-term 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 pre-term 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 Dr Orr and her colleagues.
"If additional research confirms our findings," they write, "then this might suggest an avenue for intervention to reduce spontaneous pre-term 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 labour and delivery to reduce their worries and concerns about pregnancy, and ultimately their risk of spontaneous pre-term birth outcomes," the team notes.
- REUTERS
