Don't Worry: Stress Can Cause Miscarriage

Stress in pregnancy may disrupt normal hormone functioning and could cause miscarriages. Cortisol levels rise when women have low energy, infections, injuries and severe conflicts, and cortisol is thought to lower progesterone, a hormone essential to maintaining pregnancy. One study to be released in an upcoming issue of Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences found that elevated cortisol levels, a biochemical indicator of stress, was associated with an increased risk of miscarriage very early in pregnancy. Of the 12 women in the study who had normal or low cortisol levels during the first few weeks of pregnancy, only 4 suffered miscarriages. But 9 out of the 10 pregnancies in which pregnant women’s cortisol concentrations rose above normal levels, miscarriage occurred. The researchers note that it is unclear whether the rise in cortisol levels was caused by outside stress, or the result of internal hormonal imbalances.