Low-income Pregnant Women in Rural Areas Experience High
Levels of Stress; Mothers’ and Babies’ Health at Risk, MU Researcher Says
Stress during pregnancy puts mothers’ and their babies’
health at risk, previous research has shown. Now, a University of Missouri
study indicates low-income pregnant women in rural areas experience high levels
of stress yet lack appropriate means to manage their emotional and physical
well-being. Health providers should serve as facilitators and link rural women
with resources.
“Many people think of rural life as being idyllic and
peaceful, but, in truth, there are a lot of health disparities for residents of
rural communities,” said Tina Bloom, assistant professor of nursing and Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar at MU’s Sinclair School of
Nursing. “Chronic, long-term stress is hard on pregnant women’s health and on
their babies’ health. Stress is associated with increased risks for adverse
health outcomes, such as low birth weights or pre-term deliveries, and those
outcomes can kill babies.”