Health behaviors are important modifiable factors for promoting maternal-infant health during pregnancy, and include behaviors such as diet, exercise, and avoidance of harmful substances. During pregnancy, women are often motivated to improve their lifestyle to achieve positive pregnancy outcomes; however, they may struggle to do so because certain behaviors such as excessive eating, smoking and drinking have become a means for coping with stress. Stress prior to and during pregnancy negatively impacts birth outcomes via complex behavioral and physiologic pathways. From a behavioral perspective, stress diminishes women's engagement in positive health behaviors during pregnancy. From a physiologic perspective, stress affects the regulation of cortisol, a hormone involved in fetal development and timing of delivery. Women use various coping styles to manage stress. It is unknown, however, whether certain coping styles attenuate the negative behavioral and physiologic effects of stress on birth outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive, cross-sectional study is to examine the influence of coping styles on stress, physiologic cortisol regulation and health behaviors in a diverse sample of pregnant women (N=55) during 24-28 weeks gestation.