Mum Stop Stress & Anxiety affecting your Baby and Fertility
Posted on 13th February 2023 at 19:47
Anxiety is no doubt a terrible enemy in all aspects of our life. It is now widely known how our thoughts affect our body, our energy and our physiology.
According to Dr Wadhwa an editor on scientific papers in pregnancy such as Health Psychology, it is not enough with following a good diet, avoiding alcohol or smoking. When a mum to be feels anxious or stressed there are various biological changes that occur, such as increased raised stress hormones and in return a greater likelihood of intrauterine infections.
According to him “At each stage of development, the organism uses cues from its environment to decide how best to construct itself within the parameters of its genes.”
The foetus is permanently exposed to this highly stressful environment and not only can this lead to miscarriages, but also to premature delivery and ultimately to all sort of stress related conditions in the new born.
Babies born before term tend to be more susceptible to complications such as chronic lung disease, developmental delays, learning disorders and infant mortality.
Furthermore, according to some researchers at the University of Edinburgh mothers who suffer from stress and constant anxiety may have a lack or reduced level of an enzyme that protects the baby from a stress.
But how exactly does this happen?
In a nutshell when we feel anxious the fight or fly response kicks in. This wonderful and primitive response not only will send your adrenaline and cortisol through the roof, but will also affect your heart rate as your heart starts to pump blood faster to deal with the real or imagined threat. Your digestive system will be affected too, as the blood flow to your stomach is reduced and re-directed to your arms and legs, to fight or flee. Your poor immune system gives up and performs poorly, after all what is the point of defending you against a virus, if your fate is so brim. You have difficulties taking decisions, after all the blood flow to the frontal lobes of the brain can be reduced up to an 80%. So you feel run down, full of colds, headaches and stomach ages.
The womb starts having a reduction of a protective enzyme (barrier) that stops the mother’s stress passing onto the baby and so it does the baby’s brain as it loses this enzyme too. If the mother has been stressed for a long time, this chemical may be completely depleted.
A recent study found that when a mum feels stressed due to life circumstances such as bereavement or breaking up a relationship, the children have more probabilities to develop ill health in their early years of life.
I am afraid we tend to overlook and underestimate the damage that constant stress and anxiety causes to our body, but what can we do about it?
How can mums avoid anxiety and stress?
The most important thing is to identify what is stressing you out. Are you feeling anxious always or in some occasions? Sometimes the reasons for our anxiety are very obvious, while others are difficult to understand. It is always best to look at the environment around you and question if this is affecting you. Consider also if you have doubts about yourself or your abilities.
Are you comfortable where I am living?
Are you happy with my partner?
Are you feeling fearful of the economic impact in the family?
Do you question your ability to cope with motherhood?
Are you worried about making the same mistakes your parents did?
Is there a part of you that wants the pregnancy and another that doesn’t?
Is pregnancy or having children bringing memories of molestation or abuse? or a sense of responsibility or inability to protect your children from similar experiences?
Mum Stop Stress & Anxiety affecting your Baby and Fertility – Once you are aware of your anxieties, it is important to seek professional help.
Even if you are still unclear about the origin of your anxieties , a professional hypnotherapist can find the root of the problem and work with you to manage negative emotions.
There are numerous studies that recommend the use of Hypnotherapy to deal with Anxiety. If on the other hand you are not a fan of this method. Other therapies such as NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), EFT ( Emotional Freedom Techniques) or EMDR ( Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing – technique recognised by NICE are also available at our clinic and can be of use to get the stress and anxiety under control.
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