This chart can help you decide whether you have high levels of anxiety (the “Red Zone”). If you find that you are mostly in the green zone, you can still benefit from learning about the tools to manage anxiety on this website, as they are also great for general stress management.
Everyone can benefit from these tools at some time, now or in the future.
Green Zone
- Buying books and reading about pregnancy and childbirth
- Chatting on Internet forums with other pregnant moms about questions and concerns
- Occasionally calling health providers for reassurance
- Mild to moderate worries about the baby and childbirth
- Feeling a little increased anxiety when travelling on your own far from home, especially later in pregnancy
- Carrying cell phone everywhere
- Being a bit more careful about food, diet, and exposure to chemicals
- Avoiding touching things in places where there may be a lot of germs (such as a doctor’s waiting room)
- Washing hands a bit more frequently
- Concerns about whether or not you will be a good mom
- Wondering how you will manage it all
- Concerned about going back to work (or not), and/or how to handle parenting a newborn and other children in the house
Yellow Zone
- Spending an increasing amount of time researching possible things that could go wrong with the pregnancy
- Regularly worrying about problems with the baby
- Having some difficulty stopping the Internet searches
- Regularly calling health care providers for reassurance
- Periods of worry are frequent, but you can calm down and relax
- Occasionally feeling panicky when walking out alone
- May experience a panic attack, preferring to travel with someone else if possible
- Strong desire to stay at home and relax more often
- Being very vigilant about chemicals and diet
- Not eating out because you are unsure of food safety in restaurants
- Throwing out most or all old cleaning and cosmetic products
- Frequent worries about what others will think of your parenting abilities
- Some self-doubt and thoughts that other moms know more than you do
- Having occasional distressing thoughts about not being able to handle the new baby
Red Zone
- Spending an hour or more a day researching possible things that could go wrong with the pregnancy and the baby
- Having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep because of worries and anxiety
- Noticeable difficulty with carrying out daily routines or getting along with loved ones
- Seeking constant reassurance from loved ones and health care providers
- Feeling tense and on edge almost all of the time
- Experiencing frequent panic attacks
- Constant worries about having another attack and the possible consequences of the attack (such as fainting in public or having a heart attack)
- Avoiding places, activities, or situations that may bring
- Intrusive and constant fears that germs may cause a miscarriage
- Wearing gloves out of the house
- Not shaking hands with others
- Spending an hour or more a day scrubbing hands
- Constantly disinfecting
- Avoiding going out to places where other moms are because of worries they will think you shouldn’t be a mother
- Regularly assuming that others are thinking poorly of you and that you do not meet their standards
- Not asking for help in order to not appear incapable, even when you feel exhausted trying to do everything on your own