At 39 weeks, what is the absolute worst thing that stress can do to you and the baby?

Question

At 39 weeks, what is the absolute worst thing that stress can do to you and the baby?

Answer 1

induce labour which isnt really a problem at this point

Answer 2

stress the baby, make the babys heartbeat slower, you can get blood pressure, which will cause the heartbeat of the baby slower

Answer 3

Make you go into labour, or distress the baby.

Answer 4

Cause the baby to p**p in the womb which can lead to an infection in their lungs.  Heart-rate can become uncontrolled meaning you might have to have a c-section to get baby out faster.  Really just depends on the stress you are talking about.  Day to day stress of simple things in life shouldn't have a lasting effect but to much stress can stress the baby out.  

Answer 5

Well, stress can cause some contractions/cramping. But whether those are just uncomfortable or actually deep enough and powerful enough to cause labor remains to be seen. The best thing in a time of stress is to try and sit quietly, in a dark room, close your eyes and relax your body.

If you start cramping, bleeding, contracting, the baby stops moving for a LONG time, then call your doctor ASAP.

Otherwise, it should be fine

Answer 6

Babies in the womb are supposed to be insulated from their mothers' stress by the placenta. It generally acts as a barrier so that stress hormones and other harmful substances cannot get to the baby. But new findings reveal that in the case of too much stress or a malfunction of the placenta the baby's health can be greatly impacted despite this barrier.

The stress hormone that everyone has to deal with is called cortisol. This is the hormone that's behind our fight or flight response. Cortisol is actually helpful when stress levels are normal. But when there is an overload of stress increased levels of cortisol can make for big problems like high blood pressure.

And if you are a severely stressed mother-to-be you may be passing on too much cortisol to your baby. This can lead to low birth weight, high blood pressure, diabetes, and reproductive problems among many other things. In fact, if your child develops reproductive problems as an adult it may be an example of the effects of stress crossing into the next generation.