A lot of biological, social and behavioral factors combine to affect a pregnancy. We found that all three of these psychosocial factors had an impact. They also made significant findings about the effects of pregnancy attitudes, or how women felt about being pregnant, and pregnant women's major life events. As with perceived stress, women who denied their pregnancy were also one and a half more times likely to have a baby of low birth weight. Normal birth weight is defined as greater than 5 lbs.
Pregnancy denial is definitely a risk factor.
If you're not admitting you're pregnant, you're not going for prenatal care. Their findings on the effects of major life events surprised them. While getting back with a husband or partner and experiencing a major injury, accident or illness were related to lower birth weight outcomes, taking out a mortgage or loan and death of a close family member seemed to be protective factors with better birth outcomes. All of these factors can contribute to perceived stress, or how much stress a pregnant woman thinks she is experiencing. Such interventions with pregnant women have the potential to improve pregnancy outcomes.