Understanding the Impact of Childbirth: Postnatal Stress Symptoms in Psychologically Stable Mothers

We investigated the relationship between physical activity and perceived stress levels among pregnant women. A total of 28 pregnant women participated in the study. All participants completed psychological tests to assess stress levels and coping strategies. The physically active (PA) group consisted of 15 women aged 26-40, engaging in moderate physical activity for up to 120 minutes per week across two training sessions. The inactive (NA) group included 13 women aged 24-39 who did not exercise. Unpaired T-test analysis revealed no significant differences in stress-coping strategies between exercising and non-exercising women. However, two coping scales—problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping—showed tendencies: physically active women leaned slightly more toward religious coping (p = 0.15), while non-physically active women favored restraint coping (p = 0.17). Overall, perceived stress levels did not differ significantly between the groups. The study highlights the importance of using specialized tests for pregnant women due to the unique context of pregnancy. Keywords: physical activity, pregnant women, stress, prenatal maternal stress