Anxiety in pregnancy: when worry tips over
Some worry is expected. Here is how to tell ordinary nerves from anxiety that needs support, and what helps.
A certain amount of worry in pregnancy makes complete sense. You are growing a person, waiting for appointments and scans, and stepping into something new. Most people feel nervous at times, and a bit of worry can even nudge us to look after ourselves. That kind of anxiety usually rises around a particular event and eases once it passes.
Anxiety becomes something to pay attention to when it stops switching off. You might notice worries that race and loop and are hard to control, a constant sense of dread, or your mind jumping to the worst outcome again and again. It can show up in the body too: a thumping heart, tight chest, churning stomach, trouble sleeping even when you are exhausted, or feeling on edge much of the time. Some people have panic attacks, sudden waves of intense fear with strong physical sensations that peak and then settle. For others, anxiety centres on the baby's health and brings checking, reassurance-seeking, or avoiding things that feel risky.
If this sounds familiar and it has been going on for more than a couple of weeks, or it is wearing you down or shrinking your life, please tell your midwife or GP. Anxiety in pregnancy is common and treatable, and asking for help early tends to make things easier. You will not be judged, and seeking support does not put your care or your baby at any risk.
There are things that can help alongside professional support. Slow breathing, breathing out for longer than you breathe in, can calm a racing body in the moment. Cutting back on caffeine, getting daylight and gentle movement, and keeping a loose routine for sleep all steady the nervous system. It often helps to set limits on late-night searching online, which tends to feed worry rather than settle it. Talking therapies such as CBT work well for anxiety in pregnancy, and your midwife or GP can point you to local services or a self-referral route.
If anxiety ever feels overwhelming, or you are having frightening thoughts you cannot shift, treat that as a reason to reach out the same day, to your midwife, GP, or 111. You deserve support, and there is plenty available.
Source: NHS