Panic attacks during pregnancy can be a common occurrence, even though the sufferer has never had general anxiety disorder or panic attacks before. They can happen because of the many changes that happen during pregnancy to a mother’s body, and her natural anxieties over her pregnancy.

Let’s first look at what causes panic attacks in general. The underlying cause is a level of continuous anxiety that is higher than one would normally experience. It is so high, that any additional stressful situation, or event, can push it even higher and trigger a panic attack.

The symptoms of a panic attack are just your body’s primeval pre-programmed reaction to a perceived dangerous situation or threat. You might have heard of ‘fight or flight’. It takes your intense stress and anxiety as a threat and reacts accordingly.

But of course no such danger exists, so you aren’t reacting as you would if there were that danger, and so you’re left with the symptoms such as; tightness in the chest, hyperventilation, palpitations, racing heartbeat, hot flashes, dizziness, feeling of impending doom, etc.

But why do women who have never had panic attacks previously, experience them during pregnancy? Well, pregnancy itself can be a very stressful and anxious time for the mother. Mothers invariably worry about the baby’s health, about the birth, will they make a good mother, are they ready for motherhood, etc. And, there are many chemical and physical changes happening during pregnancy.

So this elevated anxiety over a period of 9 months, is similar in many respects to someone with general anxiety. All it then needs is for an additional stressful event (e.g. shopping in a busy supermarket, stuck in rush-hour traffic, argument at home, etc.) to trigger an attack.

Most women don’t want drug-based medication while they are pregnant if it can be avoided, so here are 3 natural tips for overcoming anxiety and panic attacks during pregnancy:-

1. Take plenty of rest and relax. Ensure that you don’t overdo things. Take frequent regular rests during the day. Nap, read books, listen to relaxing music. Do you have a relaxing, therapeutic hobby?

2. Slow, controlled breathing can help calm and relax you. Again, lie back on your bed and breathe slowly, in through your nose, and out through you mouth. But don’t breathe too deeply as this has the opposite effect. And make sure you use the whole of your diaphragm to breath, not just your chest.

3. Talk to a trusted friend or relative about any worries you have. They can often help you see things more positively, and help you lower your stress. Alternatively seek professional counselling.

These 3 tips can help you overcome and manage your anxiety and panic attacks. But there’s one other thing that also must be addressed, and that is the ‘fear’ of having another panic attack.

The symptoms of a panic attack are just so disturbing that you don’t want to repeat it. So the ‘fear’ of another attack develops in your psyche adding to your already elevated anxiety. The result is that any additional stressful event can trigger another attack, just what you don’t want. You must break-out of the ‘anxiety cycle’ (anxiety > fear > panic attack > anxiety > fear > panic attack, etc.) if you want to prevent further panic attacks.

To discover just how you can break the vicious cycle of anxiety in order to stop anxiety and panic attacks please go to http://eliminatepanicattacks.blogspot.com now, it’ll only take a couple of minutes.