Could being overly stressed cause a miscarriage?

Answer 1

Apparently, yes.

"In what may prove to be a breakthrough finding, a team of scientists from Tufts University and Greece have identified a suspected chain reaction detailing exactly how stress hormones and other chemicals wreak havoc on the uterus and fetus. Their report, in the June issue of Endocrinology, may help explain why women miscarry for no obvious medical reasons and why some women have repeated miscarriages..."

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/66/79698.htm

But, another site says:

"Stress is also not likely to have caused your miscarriage. There is some evidence that extreme emotional stress may be linked to miscarriage, but as far as general anxiety, remember that most mothers are anxious and worry about their babies, yet the human race is still in existence. Studies linking stress to miscarriage more likely mean the stress of extreme, traumatic life events or continued stress at an extreme level -- not the stress of normal everyday worries."

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art24500.asp

But, see:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4002539.stm

Answer: Probably.

Answer 2

Hmmm . . . the medical term for a miscarriage is "spontaneous abortion". It means that for some reason, the body has rejected the pregnancy. Perhaps the fetus was defective in some way. Perhaps the mother's body was unprepared in some way. My daughter had many miscarriages until it was determined that she was actually Rh negative and her body was fighting pregnancy like an infection! There are so many things that can cause a miscarriage, that without a doctor analyzing the situation, it's really impossible to tell. Trying to place blame in a situation like this won't help anyone at all. Your friend needs to grieve the loss of her baby . . . progressing through each stage of the grieving process, and eventually healing from the hurt of not only the lost pregnancy, but the lack of support and understanding from those she thought were her friends. Please give her my sympathy and best wishes.

Answer 3

Isn't it ironic that for one person on a totally different continent, stress could cause miscarriage, and for someone on the other side of the world, stress is the result of being pregnant and in such a case does not cause a miscarriage when its wanted.

Answer 4

Yes it sure can. My friend nearly had a miscarriage because she was so stressed out. She had lots of problems and ended up having her baby at 28 weeks.

Answer 5

Yes

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

To much stress yes.

Answer 8

I think it can in cases where the pregnancy is high risk to begin with. I had a VERY stressful pregnancy with my first child and she is now 8

Answer 9

Yes, absolutely.

Answer 10

stress is definately not good for the unborn child. However, we truly don't know the causes of miscarriage. Please, let us not guilt ourselves by thinking stress is causing us to lose our babies.