Stress During and After Pregnancy

Family Resource Brief

If you are pregnant or already a parent, you know how stressful pregnancy and caring for newborns can be. Everyone can use more support and help to handle it all. Here you will find links to care, services, and support and websites about stress and how to manage it during and after pregnancy.

Care, Services, and Support

• See the Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families.
  

Websites

• March of Dimes (MOD). Information in English and Spanish about stress during pregnancy and stress in new mothers.
  
  
• MedlinePlus: Stress. Links to information in English, Spanish, and several other languages about stress and stress management.
  
  
• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM): Stress. Information about stress and relaxation techniques.
  
  
• Zero to Three: Military Family Projects. A set of brochures address the experiences of many military families of parenting a baby or young child during times of stress and separation.
  
  
• Adoption Resources of Wisconsin; Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. 2012. Balance Beam: Caring for Yourself, While Caring for Your Kids. Milwaukee, WI; Madison, WI: Adoption Resources of Wisconsin; Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. [Fact sheet].
  
  
• Health Information Translations. 2010. Coping with Your Baby's Crying. Columbus, OH: Health Information Translations. [Fact sheet]. Available in multiple languages. The English-language page appears first, followed by the translated-language page.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). 2009. Taking Care of Mom: Nurturing Self as Well as Baby—Healthcare Providers Guide. Rockville, MD: Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). [Pocket card].
  
  
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). 2011. Coping in Hard Times: Fact Sheet for Parents. Los Angeles, CA, Durham, NC: National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). [Fact sheet].
  
  
• Office on Women's Health. 2010. Stress and Your Health. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). [Fact sheet].
  
  
• Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS). 2009. Stress and Pregnancy. Tucson, AZ: Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS). [Fact sheet]. Also available in Spanish.
  
  
• Paul AM. 2010. Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives. New York, NY: Free Press. [Book]. Read reviews of the book in the Washington Post and in the New York Times.
  
  
• Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. 2010. Plain Talk for Parents About How to Be a Perfect Parent. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. [Fact sheet].
  
  
• Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. 2010. What Parents Can Do About Stress. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. [Brochure].
  

Learn more about stress during and after pregnancy.

Need more information? Use the collection of resources that library staff have put together for you and your family.

Stress During and After Pregnancy: Family Resource Brief. (January 2013). (Updated: July 2014).

Authors: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Digital Library; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Reviewers: Rebekah L. Dorman, Ph.D., Cuyahoga County Office of Early Childhood/Invest in Children; Leah S. Gary, M.S., The William J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation; Rochelle Mayer, Ed.D., National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health; Molly O'Neill, The William J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation; Deborah F. Perry, Ph.D., Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD); Rebecca Stone, The William J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation; S. Darius Tandon, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.