Anxiety during pregnancy at the time of the Gulf War: comparison of anxiety of Israeli women with normal pregnancies and those with "at-risk" pregnancies.

81 pregnant women were interviewed at the time of the Gulf War. One group was interviewed before the missile attacks began in Israel, and the second group during the period of the attacks. Of the women interviewed, 53 women had "high-risk" pregnancies and 28 had normal pregnancies. Despite the hypothesis that women with "at-risk" pregnancies would report a greater rise in anxiety during the missile attacks, it was found that the women with normal pregnancies reported a significantly greater rise in anxiety during missile attacks. It is suggested that the already-stressed "high-risk" group "shut out" the additional anxiety generated by the dangers from the missile attacks.