Self-management skills are useful in helping to manage stress during pregnancies. Stark and Brinkley examined the relationship between maternal perceived stress and health-promoting self-care behaviors in women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. The subjects were 69 women who had a complication in pregnancy that required referral to a perinatologist at a tertiary care center and were in the third trimester of pregnancy. The Perceived Stress Scale, a 14-item scale measuring the extent to which one appraises life situations as stressful, and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, a 52-item scale from which scores for an overall health promotion scale and 6 subscales (health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, and stress management), were administered. Results showed there was a significant and negative relationship between perceived stress and health-promoting lifestyle. The relationships between perceived stress and spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, and stress management were significant and negative.

VALUE OF STUDY TO READER: Stark and Brinkley noted that during a high-risk pregnancy, women who engage in more health-promoting behaviors may experience less stress. Although the causal relationship between stress and health promotion is unknown, nurses can offer stress management techniques and health-promoting self-care during this stressful time to encourage health in mother and neonate. We concur with this conclusion.

MA Stark, RL Brinkley. The Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Health-Promoting Behaviors in High-Risk Pregnancy. Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing, 2007;21:307-314.