Overburdened by the unborn child

Overburdened by the unborn child

Too little progesterone

In the further course, 56 of the subjects suffered a miscarriage. All affected women had felt constantly and noticeably overwhelmed by their living conditions. In addition, they found in their compared to the other pregnant women a lower progesterone levels in the blood.

Progesterone is a hormone that is released after fertilization in high amounts in the body of the mother and guarantees the survival of the pregnancy. That's what he called the term pregnancy hormone. In addition, progesterone in the uterus ensures a tolerant environment against foreign antigens. Half of the embryo consists of paternal cells, against which the immune system would normally have to fight. If stress is involved, this enormous hormonal and immunological adjustment can get out of hand during the first weeks of pregnancy. Under the influence of stress hormones, the level of progesterone decreases, and inflammatory reactions in the uterus are favored. Abort risk increases (see box).

If the pregnancy persists, some of the low birth weight children are born. Moreover, an association of low birth weight and allergies is suspected. "There are various explanations for this," says Arck. Thus, increased stress hormones could affect the function of the placenta. This would also affect the development of the fetus. "It would also be conceivable that certain stress substances go directly into the fetal circulation or increase in the amniotic fluid and thereby increase the risk of future diseases of the child."

So that it does not get that far, Petra Arck recommends her colleagues to determine the progesterone levels of the pregnant women during the initial consultation and to identify the individual stress levels in the conversation. Endangered patients could then be treated hormonally.

Of course the stress has not been removed from the world. "A drug can stabilize the pregnancy, but nothing to change the causes of stress and the behavior of pregnant women," says Ulrike Ehlert, Head of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Zurich. She and her team have been researching for years on the subject of stress and pregnancy.

Are women today faster with their nerves at the end? Too complicated for having children? "No," says Ulrike Ehlert, "but they have a completely different starting position than women 50 years ago." At that time, the life of a 20-year-old had been outlined: marry, have children and then be there for the family. Today, women can choose between several life models. "You have to decide - and that's part of the burden." What's more, women not only get pregnant later than their mothers and grandmothers. They also become rarer. "If someone says at 35, now I want to share my life with a child, then high demands are attached to it. Nothing can go wrong. »A challenging starting position, which brings more worries and problems than if the children come unsolicited.

When it gets hectic

Stress is not equal to stress. "Only when a situation is unpredictable, uncontrollable, but the person feels strongly affected, perhaps even threatened, the alarm bells ring," says Ulrike Ehlert. If this condition persists because coping strategies are missing, it can become problematic.

Whether someone bears little stress or flourishes when it gets hectic, he may seem to be born in the cradle. Recent research indicates an enzyme with the long-winded name 11-beta-HSD type II. It is also formed in the placenta and is necessary for the stress hormone cortisol to be converted into inactive cortisone. "If you have a lot of it at the beginning of a pregnancy, then you can be happy," says Ulrike Ehlert. What the production of the enzyme depends is not known.

However, one thing can be said for sure: Pregnant women who feel constantly overwhelmed must spare themselves. "But without a guilty conscience whispering to women: Do not do it like that, you're only pregnant," says psychologist Ehlert. A rethinking is urgently needed here. Even with the pregnant women themselves. "They should develop a gut feeling and act accordingly. Because that tells them exactly what

they can expect. "