Stress and preterm labor and birth in black women

Objective: To examine (a) 3 commonly used measures of stress during pregnancy, (b) changes in stress over time to determine when stress is highest, and (c) whether any of the stress measures predict who will deliver preterm in pregnant Black women. Design: Prospective descriptive study. Setting: Perinatal evaluation center and outpatient clinics of a teaching hospital in the northeast. Participants: Fifty-nine Black women: 39 were recruited in preterm labor from a Perinatal Evaluation Center, and 20 experiencing healthy pregnancies were recruited from the prenatal clinic. Measures: Stress was measured using 2 paper and pencil tests (the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire and the Perceived Stress Scale) and corticotropin-releasing hormone. Results: There was not a high correlation between stress measures. Stress at 28 weeks as measured by Prenatal Distress Questionnaire and Perceived Stress Scale was at its highest, but corticotropin-releasing hormone increased to 32 weeks and then decreased. Conclusions: Perceived stress, prenatal distress, and corticotropin-releasing hormone do not all appear to be measuring the same phenomenon. Screening for stress in Black women at 28 weeks requires further research as perceived stress levels in Black women experiencing preterm labor around 28 weeks differentiated women who delivered preterm infants from Black women who delivered at term.