J Korean Med Assoc.  2011 Aug;54(8):832-837. 10.5124/jkma.2011.54.8.832.

The preconception stress and mental health of couples

• Park YC
• Park SC
• Park MI

• KMID: 2191134
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2011.54.8.832

Abstract

The ultimate goal of the 'baby plan' is a healthy pregnancy and successful child rearing. Focusing on baby planning, this article covers issues concerning a successful and healthy pregnancy with a psychiatric point of view-the stress and mental health before the pregnancy. According to recent findings, stress influences a women's infertility rate 10 to 15 percent, and a major psychological reason is found to be depression rather than anxiety disorder. The infertility of men is also influenced by stress, based on the research findings that the density and quality of sperm worsens after disasters. Excessive stress before and during pregnancy could result in pre-term labor, small for gestational age infants, or reduced infant weight. In order to prevent these preconception distresses, psychiatric care and treatment are needed. In this regard, Eastern traditional wisdom could be helpful in the view of psychotherapy, since it has been traditionally approved and welcomed for more than a thousand years. One of the insights is that a sound relationship between a husband and wife is a foundation of a good family, and this has already been determined from the moment when the two met for the first time. In conclusion, preconception stress could negatively influence fertility and could have a negative effect on a pregnancy. Thus stress should be alieviated for a healthy pregnancy and successful child rearing by psychotherapeutic intervention.

Keyword

Preconception; Stress; Mental health; Psychotherapy; Couples

MeSH Terms

Anxiety Disorders
Child
Child Rearing
Depression
Disasters
Family Characteristics
Fertility
Gestational Age
Humans
Infant
Infertility
Mental Health
Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1
Pregnancy
Psychotherapy
Spermatozoa
Spouses

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