Nerves during pregnancy affect the fetus. Why pregnant women should not be nervous, cry and worry
Most pregnant women know that any emotional experience affects the condition of the baby. A close physiological connection with it is manifested at the level of all organs and systems. What happens if you are nervous during pregnancy? Violation of the rhythm of breathing and heart, changes in the level of hormones, the activity of the nervous system in the mother will immediately affect the child.
The gestation period is very difficult emotionally. Anxiety in a woman arises due to many external reasons: the peculiarities of the course of pregnancy, its complications, the need to regularly undergo diagnostic examinations. There is constantly more or less pronounced anxiety about the condition of the child, and at the end of the term - about the upcoming birth. All this is exacerbated by changes in the endocrine system. An imbalance of hormones makes a woman more whiny, restless, suspicious, irritable. Why you shouldn't be nervous during pregnancy? What to do to avoid unnecessary emotional experiences?
All women have to be nervous during pregnancy, it is impossible to completely exclude situations that cause emotional outbursts. But only intense and prolonged experiences can negatively affect the state of the mother and child. Daily troubles do not cause significant changes in the body of a pregnant woman, compensatory mechanisms work.
Nervous stresses during pregnancy very quickly lead to disturbances in the emotional state: tearfulness, irascibility, irritability, depression. With prolonged exposure to a stressor, depression can develop. All this negatively affects the course of pregnancy, since there is a connection between what a woman experiences and the benefits in the work of body systems.
Why should pregnant women not be nervous? Because prolonged emotional experiences can provoke a number of complications:
- Spontaneous abortion. If you are nervous in the early stages of pregnancy, the already existing risk of miscarriage increases. The situation is the more dangerous, the more intense the stress factor (psychological trauma).
- Early discharge of amniotic fluid. Protracted emotional experiences lead to tension, which manifests itself at all levels (mental, physiological). As a result, the integrity of the bubble may be broken.
- Abnormal cessation of fetal development. The most dangerous is the 8th week. At this time, stressful circumstances can lead to.
Thus, prolonged and intense emotional experiences are dangerous for the course of pregnancy. Prolonged exposure to a stressor or a sudden traumatic event can trigger an abortion.
Consequences of emotional instability during pregnancy
If you are nervous a lot during pregnancy, then this will lead to the following problems:
- Blood pressure will rise, the heart rate will become rapid, uneven. This will lead to changes in the vessels of the placenta and fetus, and then to. As a result, the child does not receive enough oxygen and nutrients, begins to lag behind in development.
- The manifestations will intensify.
- The sleep-wake regime will be disturbed, chronic fatigue and depression will develop.
Being nervous during pregnancy is dangerous because it is fraught with undesirable consequences for the health of the child.
After birth, he may show:
- emotional excitability, increased anxiety and hypersensitivity to external stimuli, meteorological dependence;
- violations of sleep and wakefulness, in severe cases leading to a delay in mental and physical development;
- insufficient weight gain;
- susceptibility to asthma.
Children of restless mothers often toss and turn in the stomach, push, kick.
How to deal with emotional stress during pregnancy?
Since it is almost impossible not to be nervous during pregnancy, you should try to reduce the intensity and duration of experiences.
The emotional state is easier to control when its impact on the process of bearing a child and his health is clear.
- Planning. Making a plan (daily, weekly, monthly) makes the future more predictable, certain and reduces anxiety.
- Information about pregnancy. Communication on the forums of young mothers, reading articles, books about bearing a child significantly reduce the level of anxiety of the expectant mother. It becomes clear what is behind all the processes, changes occurring in the body.
- Support for a loved one. The help of relatives is always more effective than any other. For most women, the support of a husband is important. Often close women (mother, sister, girlfriend) who have already given birth to children become good helpers in the fight against anxiety and anxiety.
- Child contact. Even with a baby in the stomach, you can interact: stroke, talk, sing songs. All this helps to establish emotional contact with him, to calm down.
- Search for positive emotions. It is necessary to find time for what gives pleasure: books, films, walks, communication with positive people, delicious food. You can even write it into a plan, then execution will be more likely.
- Compliance with the daily routine. It should include full sleep, including daytime sleep, five meals a day in small portions, walks in the fresh air. By the way, during physical exertion, even light, the production of the hormone of happiness increases, so walking, light dancing can quickly cheer you up.
It is said that in moderate doses, excitement will not harm the child, but will prepare him for stressful situations after birth. It does not happen that a woman, especially a pregnant woman, for 9 months. I wasn't worried or nervous.
Another thing is when you can't stop and look for how to get out of constant nerves, breakdowns and stress.
In advance (while I was in a calm state) I made a list for myself that could help me get out of stress, and then, when I still broke down, I used this list. Personally, it helped me: drink valerian (I think it’s purely psychological, like at least drink something from medicine), turn on quite certain music (I have one favorite song), actively do household chores - throw out stress through physical effort.
I also somehow found an article on the Internet - I quote below:
Pregnancy and stress
Stress over the past two decades has become a significant impact on our lives.
Stress can be positive for us (it forces us to do better and more effective actions) or negative (when we lose control and it weakens our strength) depending on how we manage to overcome it and how we react to it. It can also be harmful if it leads to mental exhaustion.
During pregnancy, a negative reaction to stress can stem from a woman's fluctuating mood. As a result, she loses her appetite, she develops insomnia. For the unborn child, the main thing is that the mother learns to deal with stress.
How to deal with stress:
Talk about stress, venting anxiety outward. Have an open argument with your husband. Set aside some time at the end of each day to figure out the reasons for your anxiety. Use humor in special situations.
Talk about your concerns with other family members, a doctor, a friend, or a clergyman. If all else fails, then visit a psychologist.
Try to identify sources of stress in your life and decide for yourself what can change or eliminate stress. If you are very tired, give up some work or decide what you will do first and what - later, what can be postponed or transferred to someone else.
Sleep more. Sleep renews the spirit and the body. Often the feeling of tension and anxiety is caused by lack of sleep. If you have trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor, he can help you.
Eat more. You need to "eat" your stress. Inadequate nutrition during pregnancy adversely affects the health of the mother and the development of the child.
Take a warm bath at the end of each day to help you relax and fall asleep.
Fight stress with activities that reduce stress, such as sports (discuss this with your doctor); reading, walking, listening to music (also listening to music from cassettes with headphones, which can be done while working, during lunch, coffee, etc.); long or short walks during breakfast or lunch, but do not forget to eat at the appropriate time; performing exercises aimed at relaxation and rest.
A storm of emotions lies in a woman during pregnancy, it is very, very difficult to figure out what she finally wants. She may get angry, cry after a few minutes, and then smile. How can a pregnant woman learn to remain calm again?
The reason for the storm of emotions in pregnant women.
The mood of pregnant women is changeable, while various little things can irritate them. It should be noted that the woman did not even pay attention to these trifles before. The reason for this behavior is the production of a large amount of female hormones necessary for the normal bearing of a child. Gonadotropin should be attributed to the main hormones of pregnancy: in the early stages of pregnancy, a high level of the hormone, the maximum concentration at 7-10 weeks of pregnancy, an increased concentration causes nausea, and this causes increased irritability; progesterone: a hormone that affects the process of bearing a child, the level of the hormone is high, it is the cause of a woman's rapid fatigue; Estriol: A natural antioxidant produced throughout pregnancy.
The most changed hormonal background affects the emotional state of a pregnant woman in the first trimester. Pay special attention to yourself when:
· you were predisposed to mood swings before pregnancy;
· you lost a baby during a previous pregnancy. During a new pregnancy, a woman will listen to her body and look for signs of danger, and this increases irritability and serves as a reason to lose her temper. Keep in mind that negative emotions can provoke a threat of termination of pregnancy, we get a vicious circle.
· pregnancy came under the persuasion of her husband or relatives, then you may not understand why you are pregnant, as a result, the pregnant woman begins to take out her anger at her loved ones, who made her decide to have a baby.
· you are used to commanding to be obeyed, you are used to keeping everything and everyone in submission, but closer to childbirth, your performance decreases, often those around you start to help you out of good intentions, but such care seems to be a signal to a strong woman - I have become weak, and this is the basis of nervous stress .
How nervous breakdowns affect pregnancy.
Hormones change throughout pregnancy, so there will be mood swings throughout pregnancy. However, it is worth remembering that severe stress can provoke the risk of a threatened abortion (uterine hypertonicity), cause problems with sleep, appetite, exacerbation of chronic diseases, skin problems, ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract.
You can determine that you are having a nervous breakdown if:
· rapid fatigue sets in, frequent errors in work appear;
· cannot concentrate;
· suffering from insomnia, nightmares;
· tormented by irresistible anxiety;
· there is an increased heartbeat, pain in the neck, headache, pain in the neck, back.
You have a nervous breakdown - what to do?
It is difficult to cope with emotions on your own, you should seek help from a specialist. First, inform the gynecologist about your nerves and he will prescribe you: valerian, motherwort infusion, Glycine, Person, Magne B6. Only a specialist will prescribe the necessary dosage for you, tell you how long you should take them. If the measures taken are not enough, the doctor will refer you to a psychologist, psychotherapist.
How to cope with nervous stress during pregnancy.
1. Throw out emotions - anger, anger overtook you at work, you can go to the toilet and wash yourself with cold water, open the faucet to the full and hit the jet of water with the edge of your palm;
2. Train yourself to relax
3. Sleep is the best medicine. If you have a lack of sleep, then this is a direct path to stress. You need to try to sleep for 8 hours a day, and if possible, you can take a nap for a couple of hours during the day. Give yourself a SIESTA!
4. Talk about problems. You were rude at work, pushed in public transport, etc. It is worth saying the situation, if there is a problem, then it will be easier for you to understand the reason and solve it.
5. Seek support from your husband. Do not take out your anger on your husband, this will only aggravate the situation. It is worth explaining to him that you are having a difficult period and you need help. Ask him to help you, even pull his mustache or beard (if it makes you feel better). Believe me, your husband, just like you, wants you to be calm and cheerful.
With the onset of pregnancy, there are many more reasons for concern and worries. However, from the side of relatives, one hears every now and then: don’t worry, calm down, you can’t, and so on. Why pregnant women should not be nervous, and is it possible to somehow control their condition? After all, it is impossible to completely protect yourself from stress for 9 months.
Reasons why pregnant women should not be nervous
Nervous experiences can harm not only the mother, but also the child.
- Excessive emotionality contributes to the release of a large amount of adrenaline into the bloodstream. It leads to vasoconstriction, which prevents the supply of nutrients to the fetus. If the situation repeats often, then due to nutritional deficiency, the child begins to lag behind in development. A sharp and prolonged narrowing of blood vessels can lead to miscarriage or premature birth due to lack of oxygen in the tissues.
- The nervous tension experienced by a woman at the beginning of pregnancy can later result in an incorrect location of the fetus, cord entanglement, hypoxia and other pathologies.
- In restless mothers during childbearing, children with an unbalanced psyche are more often born. Such a baby often cries and is naughty, he is worried about constipation, he has a weak immune system, and so on.
- When a person experiences nervous tension, the body produces large amounts of the stress hormone cortisol. A significant and prolonged excess of its level destroys protein structures, the formation of organs is disrupted in a child, which leads to developmental abnormalities.
- The increased nervousness of the mother during pregnancy increases the likelihood of the baby developing asthma, cardiovascular pathologies, dementia, and diseases of the digestive tract.
Hot temper, aggressiveness, irritability of the expectant mother throughout the entire period of pregnancy can provoke an asymmetric development of the paired parts of the baby's body, for example, ears, fingers.
The most important period is the first three months, when the laying of organs occurs. Any negative impact can cause the development of deformities and anomalies.
But even knowing why pregnant women should not be nervous, in some situations it is very difficult to resist emotions. Such "failures" along the chain "cling" to each other, and it becomes difficult to stop them. In such cases, you need to act decisively and purposefully.
How can pregnant women stop being nervous?
To prevent nervous breakdowns during pregnancy (and not only), it is recommended to combine several methods at the same time. Among them are both single actions (according to the situation) and daily ones aimed at strengthening the nervous system as a whole.
- Acceptance of safe sedatives in consultation with the doctor.
- Regular walks in the fresh air.
- Swimming pool visit.
- Daily douche with cool water.
- Deep slow inhalations and exhalations during irritation and nervousness.
- Meditation.
- Soothing massage of biologically active points (for example, in the center of the chin).
Be sure to set yourself up for positive, and find positive and / or funny sides in any situation.
It is important that the diet of a woman who is carrying a child contains foods rich in B vitamins, magnesium, and omega acids.
Having found out why pregnant women should not be nervous, and what it threatens, many women in a position may begin to worry about previously experienced stresses. Do not be afraid for the health of the baby in advance. At any time, you can do an ultrasound, talk to a doctor. It must be remembered that only a positive attitude towards life works wonders in any, even seemingly hopeless, case.
