The University of Navarra has released a report that I love to disseminate because it contains several very interesting points about the natural biological process that occurs in pregnancy, which we will discuss in future posts.
One of the ones that interested me the most is the one that talks about how pregnancy reduces the level of stress in women.
When a stress situation occurs, the brain releases substances that stimulate the production of cortisol, the stress hormone. Maternal cortisol can negatively affect the development of the baby in gestation causing a greater predisposition to suffer from cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders and affective disorders.
There are several studies that have shown that the mother's stress affects the baby, which can cause poor brain development and is even thought to be related to abortions and childhood asthma.
But the human body is such a perfect machine that when a woman is pregnant, a series of neuroendocrine changes occur to favor a better development of the baby, a defense mechanism to cushion the negative effects of cortisol caused by stress.
Scientists explain that it increases between 10 and 100 times the level of progesterone in the brain (female sex hormones), reducing the emotional and physical response to stress. But the action of progesterone is not only in that, but it generates a double effect on the brain. On the one hand, it prevents the production of cortisol, while on the other it allows to store high doses of oxytocin in the body of the pregnant woman, called the hormone of trust.
That reserve of oxytocin that has been made in pregnancy is released at the time of delivery to strengthen the attachment bond and return to the usual levels of stress response. In that return to normal after childbirth, certain mood swings usually occur in women, which can lead to baby blues or a mild depression until a deep postpartum depression.
For many women (among whom I include myself), pregnancy is an ideal stage, like a 9-month hiatus in life in which we minimize external concerns. We will be aware that there is nothing more important than our baby and in comparison, the outside becomes secondary and inconsequential. From what we see, as this report has shown, hormones also help a lot.
