Impact of Obesity on Stress in Women during First Trimester

Pregnancy is a complex psychophysiological process. The presence of obesity and stress increases the complexity in pregnant women. Therefore, the present study attempted to find out the level of perceived stress and examine the prenatal psychosocial risk in obese and non-obese women during their first trimester. Basing on a between-group survey design, 60 young pregnant women (30 obese & 30 non-obese) in their first trimester were selected. The Perceived Stress Scale and Prenatal Psychosocial Profile Scale were administered individually. The results revealed that the perception of stress of both obese and non-obese pregnant women was similar during first trimester. The findings showed that the obese pregnant women experienced significantly higher prenatal psychosocial risk compared to their non-obese participants. The condition of obesity was found to have large effect on the prenatal psychosocial risk. The implications and shortcoming were also discussed.