Objective To explore the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) between fatigue and pregnancy-related distress in women in late pregnancy. Methods By using the convenient sampling method, 210 women in late pregnancy who received prenatal check-ups at the outpatient departments of two Grade A tertiary hospitals in Nanning from May to September 2024 were selected as the research subjects. They were surveyed using a general information questionnaire, the Tilburg Pregnancy Distress Scale (TPDS), the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12), and the Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14). Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to explore the correlations among IU, fatigue, and pregnancy-related distress in women in late pregnancy. The Bootstrap method was employed to test the mediating effect of IU between fatigue and pregnancy-related distress in women in late pregnancy. Results A total of 203 valid questionnaires were recovered, with an response rate of 96.7%. Among the 203 women in late pregnancy, the total score of TPDS was (18.95±6.90), the total score of FS-14 was (7.00 [4.00, 9.00]) , and the total score of IUS-12 was (27.68±9.03). Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the total score of TPDS was positively correlated with the total score of IUS-12 (rs=0.510, P<0.01), the total score of TPDS was positively correlated with the total score of FS-14 (rs=0.398, P<0.01), and the total score of IUS-12 was positively correlated with the total score of FS-14 (rs=0.371, P<0.01). The results of mediating effect analysis indicated that the total effect of fatigue on pregnancy-related distress was 0.822 (P<0.001), among which the direct effect was 0.533, accounting for 64.84% of the total effect; the indirect effect of fatigue on pregnancy-related distress through IU was 0.289, accounting for 35.16% of the total effect, and its Bootstrap 95% CI was (0.174, 0.429), which did not include 0, indicating that the effect was statistically significant. Conclusion IU plays a partial mediating role between fatigue and pregnancy-related distress in women in late pregnancy. Clinical medical staff should strengthen the assessment of the psychological status of women in late pregnancy and reduce their IU level through targeted interventions, thereby effectively alleviating pregnancy-related distress.