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Science has long since educated us on the impact everything we drink and eat has upon our unborn child, but what about your emotions?
According to a study by the Association for Psychological Sciences in the US, your emotions could impact a six-month embryo. And that’s not all. When pregnant, your emotional health could also possibly create the foundation for the fetus’ own attitudes about his or her life.
But getting back to what possibly got you hooked, how do your tears affect your little one? Well, it all depends on the sort of mom you are, and the following categories will provide you with a good idea about how your feelings are transforming your baby and making choices for him forever.
If You’re A Stressed Mom
Ok, we get it. Pregnancy isn’t exactly a spa trip. Every mother has her bouts of occasional stress, and no need to get additionally stressed about being stressed (ha), because that is perfectly fine and won’t have any lasting impact upon your newborn.
However, if long-term stress and chronic anxiety are your demons during your pregnancy them, you have a much higher chance of having a colicky, anxious baby. When you’re suffering the blues, your body produces a stress hormone and though you’re right in your beliefs that your emotions and feelings can’t cross that placenta, those pesky stress hormones can. If this hormone is exposed to your baby’s developing system often, he or she could get accustomed to being stressed chronically.
If You’re A Depressed Mom
According to a study published in health line, suffering from depression during pregnancy is as common a phenomenon as postpartum depression. It’s real, and it shouldn’t be dismissed. According to the study, a surprising 10% of soon-to-be mothers are found to be depressed. And the prognosis doesn’t sound great.
The babies born to clinically depressed mothers are roughly 1.5 times more likely to develop depression as well as emotional setbacks such as aggression, by the age of 18 years.
If that wasn’t alarming enough, depression could also have an impact on the development of your baby inside the womb. However, this is more in association with the consistency of your depressed feelings rather than having depression itself. According to a study, if a mother happened to be emotionally healthy during the pregnancy and remained so post pregnancy, then the baby’s development is normal. If a mother happened to be depressed during the course of her pregnancy or after her pregnancy, even then the baby’s development was normal.
However, if the consistency of her emotions changed, for example, the mother was healthy while pregnant but suffered postpartum depression (or vice versa), then this compromised the baby’s development.
If You’re A Mom Who Resents Her Pregnancy
If you’re struggling with resentment for the small being growing inside your womb, then this will only make matters worse. According to studies, mothers who experienced no bond or attachment for their unborn child had children who grew up with emotional problems.
If You’re A Mom With Those Occasional Bad Days
Having those occasional sad days in the course of your nine months is perfectly normal. Everyone gets them. Don’t allow this to stress you. These occasional, spasmodic sad days will not have any lasting impact upon your little love.
So Now What?
If you’re a mom experiencing more than just those occasional bouts of blues, don’t be afraid. Get that help you need to be happy! No one is expecting you to pull a dramatic cold turkey for all that stress in your life. But try to understand and recognize the symptoms of depression and get a hold of your doctor about antidepressants safe for the pregnant woman. Yes, they exist!
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