This article is intended to help clinicians better understand the ever-expanding body of
research on whether psychosocial stress (both acute and chronic) is linked to 2 major
adverse pregnancy outcomes: preterm birth and low birth weight. We summarize the existing
literature and then review assessment tools commonly used to diagnose various types of
psychosocial stress, with attention to how and when assessments should be made. After
discussing the physiologic mechanisms hypothesized to underlie these relationships, we …