Introduction: Stress is defined as a state of psychological and physical tension produced, when individuals perceive that they are unable to cope with the demands imposed on them by the stressor (Hans Selye 1936). Chronic stress may be either because of many stressors or due to the same stressor persistantly for a prolonged period, which repeatedly activate the autonomic nervous system as well as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis without relaxation response, so resulting in persistent physiologic effects. Physiologic response in turn leads to malfunctioning of HPA axis and releases excess cortisol, the principle stress hormone. Life events like changes in financial state, dismissal from work, change in eating or sleeping habits, marriage, pregnancy, divorce, death of spouse, marital separation, marital reconciliation, imprisonment etc. are few causes of chronic stress. Pregnancy is recognized as a stressful event in woman’s life, as during pregnancy many physiological changes occur, which require huge psychological adjustments. Stress during pregnancy leads to hypertension, diabetes mellitus, preterm delivery and fetal loss. Materials and methods: In our study, we have assessed stress level in pregnant women by correlative study of Holmes & Rahe scale and serum Cortisol levels. Also parameters included in the study were socio-demographic parameters (social class, educational status, occupation, religion, family type), anthropometric parameters (Height , Weight, BMI), physiological parameters (BP, HR) and hormonal assay. Results: In our study we found 37.5% pregnant women were mildly stressed, 35.4% were moderately stressed and 27% were severely stressed. Women in nuclear family and joint family had mean stress level of 182.7±68.4 and 220.1±92.0 respectively. Stress level was comparatively higher in women of joint family. We found very small variation in stress levels indicating no much difference in the effect of stress on different religions. 10% of graduates were either moderately or severely stressed, while stress of this severity was prevalent in more than 60% of undergraduates. Education might be helping to develop coping response and ability to decelerate the stress generated by life events. Mean stress levels were 264.3± 98.9 and 208.5± 87.2 respectively in working and house wives. Conclusion: Sociodemographic parameters have effective role in development of chronic stress in pregnant women. Formally educated women are well equipped to deal effectively with stress than uneducated women in rural India. It indicates the awareness of well-educated females regarding stress and its adverse effects. Stress is equally prevalent in women of different religious faith. Mean stress in working women is quite higher as compared to house wives. Our findings indicate that cumulative effects of changing life events and daily hassles with failure of coping reflex leads to chronic stress in pregnant women.

Keywords: Chronic stress; Daily hassles; Life events; Pregnancy; Sociodemographic Parameters.