Cognitive adaptation: a women's health perspective for reducing stress during childbearing

The purpose of this study is to evaluate psychological changes in women of three minority ethnic groups in a program of psychosocial services that promoted positive cognitive adaptation to childbearing throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. In this prospective longitudinal study, both cognitive adaptation and generalized stress were measured at each trimester of pregnancy as well as after birth and 3 months postpartum. The mean scores at each time are first compared with first trimester scores for women in the program and then with scores for comparable women in a cross-sectional sample tested before the program. For women in the program, results of the psychological adaptation measures and the stress measures had improved from their first trimester value by the time of birth. Stress levels of women in the program were less than for women in the corresponding comparison sample from the third trimester on. Enhanced perinatal services that include interventions and monitoring strategies aimed at improving the cognitive adaptation of women to childbearing are important in promoting stress reduction in women and infants.