You see a commercial and cry, watch a beautiful movie and cry, your husband asks you something and what do you do? Cry! If they don’t have the pizza flavor you wanted, then you cry… Why are pregnant women so emotional? Sometimes this urge to cry, this sadness, hits a woman like a freight train. Nothing serious may even be happening, but you just want to cry and cry… A calm woman suddenly turns into a fountain of tears right in the middle of the workday, at a family lunch, or even alone watching TV at home, all without any apparent reason. Why are all feelings more intense and sudden during pregnancy?

The fact is that the mood swings so common during this phase1 can really make it difficult to get along with family members and people around the expectant mother. Some husbands are so shocked that they even leave home! It’s clear she is sensitive and that anything we say or show, at some point seems to upset her. But it’s not intentional! Sometimes even she doesn’t notice this change in behavior. That’s why it’s important to have a lot of patience at this time in life and to feel that the person she trusts most will be there whenever she needs them.

But what is the reason for this change? The hormones! Always them, right? They are also responsible for women’s mood swings during PMS2. And in pregnancy, imagine an intense and prolonged PMS lasting nine months? It’s really not easy—just as quickly as the crying comes, it also goes. It almost seems like the pregnant woman becomes bipolar for a period in her life, sometimes very happy, sometimes sad, tearful, and tired.

But why do I keep on crying? There are days when you don’t even want to leave the house, you keep wondering if you’ll be able to handle the baby, the expenses, the responsibility of being a mother… Having these mood swings and pessimistic thoughts during pregnancy is very common. In fact, at the start of pregnancy, crying can hit hard, along with nausea, sleepiness, hunger, lack of appetite, etc. Yes, this is one of the first symptoms of pregnancy. However, as pregnancy progresses, this can ease up and then intensify again towards the end for various reasons, one of them being the approaching labor and also due to the increase in hormones.

Whose Fault Is It? When to Be Concerned?

Progesterone, which is the main ally during pregnancy, can bring on these bouts of crying for no apparent reason. It and estrogen are responsible for all these mood swings. It’s as if she gets a surge of a thousand times more hormones than her body is used to. But this isn’t bad news—it means hormone levels are right and the baby won’t be at risk due to low hormone production. They’re the culprits, but nature’s intention is the best possible—too bad not everything is perfect and the side effects of mood swings hit hard.

However, there are signs that not everything may be just a hormonal surge. It’s important to pay attention to this crying pregnant woman and try to spot signs of depression during pregnancy3. It’s not uncommon for pregnant women to become depressed and in these cases, at the smallest sign of depression, she should report it to her doctor. In fact, prenatal care serves this purpose, and of course, dad should accompany mom to appointments and report any strange behavior to the doctor. Depression can hit hard and can even lead to postpartum depression. Extra care is needed!