Pregnancy is a time of stress for everyone. There's a lot of transitions that are happening. You might be going from two incomes down to one and that can cause financial stress and in every relationship the addition of a new baby means that things are going to change a little bit so a certain amount of stress is normal.
It's about identifying when the stress gets too much. When you notice that you are stressed one of the easiest things that you can do is to calm your breathing. So breathing four seconds in, four seconds out and just slowing that breathing gets the whole body into more of a relaxed mode from the more aroused and keyed up state.
Light exercise is great in pregnancy so going on a walk or doing some yoga anything that you find relaxing. If that's not the sort of thing that you find relaxing then maybe reading a magazine or going to a cafe just doing something where you prioritize your own time and have a little bit of a break from thinking about everything else in life.
If you have trouble saying no you might want to enlist a gatekeeper in pregnancy to say no for you so either a partner or a family member who can say no to different invitations that might be overwhelming for you - calm your calendar down.Talk to your employer if you're finding that the work is too stressful.
One of the most important things in a stressful pregnancy is social support so finding friends that you can connect with and talk to about your concerns or you might find that going online and finding a birth club or a birth group who are going through similar things is really helpful for you. If you're finding that the stress is overwhelming the first step is to see your GP who can refer you to a psychologist in order to address this stress.
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