Anxiety and stress in pregnancy: significance and nursing assessment.

This article explores the significance of research on prenatal anxiety and stress for application to clinical nursing practice. The focus will be on assessment of the gravid woman's anxiety levels and coping skills. An introduction presenting a paradigm of the transitional and paradoxical changes of pregnancy precedes a discussion of the nature and sources of anxiety in pregnancy and its effects on maternal/fetal health outcomes. The cumulative effects of multiple sources of anxiety and the relevance of early state anxiety and prenatal personality dimensions, such as maternal role identification and conjugal relationships, to health outcomes also are discussed. Methods for stress reduction and recommendations for future multidisciplinary and multivariate research projects conclude the article.