Distress in pregnant women: A literature review

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of literary sources on the topic of psychological adaptation to pregnancy and motherhood. Psychological adaptation can be defined as the process of establishing the optimal correspondence of the individual and the environment during the implementation of human-specific activities, which allows the individual to meet urgent needs and realize significant goals, while ensuring compliance with the maximum human activity, behaviour, and environmental requirements. Psychological adaptation is a continuous process, which also includes such aspects as optimization of the constant impact of the individual with the environment and establishing an adequate correspondence between mental and physiological characteristics. Pregnancy and motherhood as situations of adaptation are due to two circumstances: adaptation to pregnancy as a physiological and psychosomatic condition; adaptation to motherhood as the adoption of the role of a mother and the formation of a mother’s position, the adoption of a child and all changes related to the appearance in the personal, family, social and professional spheres. In this process, all physiological and psychological adaptation systems are involved, and the very situation of pregnancy and motherhood can be considered as an acute crisis situation, since there is a radical change in all aspects of a woman’s life. The article discusses in detail the factors affecting a woman’s adaptation to pregnancy, in particular the lack of adaptation mechanisms, motivational factor (conflict), and the presence of objective reasons that complicate the adaptation process. The concepts of prenatal, maternal, and parental stress are presented. Also, the features of coping strategies are discussed and the results of modern research on the topic are presented. The current sphere requires more detailed research and additional studies based on a single theoretical and methodological model, taking into account all ethical standards when conducting studies with a person, since pregnant women are included in a vulnerable group of respondents.