Contact: Alina Rodriguez, PhD
Phone: 46 18 471 7980
Email: Alina.Rodriguez@psyk.uu.se
Embargoed until: March 16 , 2002

BARCELONA, SPAIN-- A study conducted in Sweden by an interdisciplinary team headed by Alina Rodriguez, Ph.D., research scientist at Uppsala University, found that women who perceived high levels of stress early in pregnancy were more likely to suffer an incidence of high blood pressure later on in the pregnancy. Results of the study were presented for the first time at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting.

The research, in which over 400 women participated, was designed to test whether the perception of stress (feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope with the demands posed by situations) during pregnancy had an effect on the incidence of high blood pressure. Stress was measured on six occasions during pregnancy.

The results showed that even after taking medical risk factors into account, a high level of perceived stress at the first prenatal health care visit (approx. gestational week 10) predicted later incidence of high blood pressure. Other factors such as education or hostility were unrelated.

These results are important because hypertension is a relatively common pregnancy complication, but its etiology is poorly understood. The women in this study were baring their first child, which is especially important, because these are the most difficult cases to predict due to the fact that most risk assessments weigh heavily on previous pregnancy complications. Hypertension during pregnancy is related to poor outcomes for both mother and baby.

It is important to note that this study was conducted in Sweden, where all women, regardless of socio-economic status, have equal access to quality prenatal care which ranks as one of the highest in the world. Therefore, we know that the differences in blood pressure were not due to other reasons, such as limited use of prenatal care because of insurance or economic restrictions by the women who perceived a great deal of stress.

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