6 Ways Your Behavior During Pregnancy Affects Your Baby

Oct 28
20:08

2020

Darfashan Parveen

Darfashan Parveen

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Several behavioural factors have a profound impact on the health of the unborn baby like depression, fighting, crying, etc. Read this article to know about what kind of behaviour can affect your baby during pregnancy and what you can do instead.

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What the baby will look like,6 Ways Your Behavior During Pregnancy Affects Your Baby Articles to a large extent, is determined by the genes inherited from parents. However, what the child will ultimately become is mostly defined by his/her environment that starts in the womb. It has been indeed proven that there is a direct correlation between maternal mental health and child behavior.

While most pregnant women are warned to stay away from alcohol, smoking, and drugs during pregnancy, several behavioral factors have a profound impact on the health of the unborn baby. Below are the types of behavior during pregnancy can affect your baby and what you can do instead.

Fighting and Yelling

If you fight with your spouse during pregnancy, it can affect your baby's well-being, as fighting leads to anxiety and depression. While it's normal for a couple to have arguments sometimes, which is usually not harmful, arguing excessively with your partner could harm your baby in several ways. Some of them are listed below:

  • A weakened immune system
  • Physical abnormalities
  • Constricted brain development
  • Compromised biological and physiological development
  • Overindulgence or addiction

Besides, shouting and screaming can be bad for the mother, causing her nausea, cramping, headaches, and sleep deprivation.

What you should do:

  • Understand each other
  • Discuss plans for future
  • Compliment each other more often
  • Try yoga and meditation
  • Breathe fresh air
  • Rest more
  • Get adequate sleep

Crying

You may cry for no obvious reason during pregnancy, especially if you're a naturally emotional woman. The typical physical and emotional causes of crying while pregnant include:

  • Stress
  • Hormones fluctuations
  • Stretch marks
  • Overdue pregnancy
  • Watching sentimental films/shows
  • Ill-fitting clothes
  • Physical discomforts
  • Negative comments on your body and weight
  • Getting emotional during particular moments of pregnancy

While there is no definitive conclusion on how crying affects the fetus, it can sometimes be tricky to have these symptoms:

  • Changes in appetite
  • Feeling guilty or worthless
  • Loss of interest in things you enjoy the most
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Sleeping too much or too little
  • Thoughts about harming yourself or others

These symptoms indicate antenatal depression that may later result in more severe consequences for your baby, such as preterm birth and low birth weight.

What you can do:

  • Eat healthily and at regular intervals
  • Get enough sleep. Aim for 8-9 hours a night
  • Be physically active
  • Wear comfortable, flattering maternity wear
  • Don't overwhelm yourself
  • Talk to other pregnant women or moms
  • Speak to your doctor if the symptoms last more than 15 days

Sleep Deprivation

Insomnia affects nearly 4 in 5 (80%) pregnant women, and women who sleep less than 6 hours a night have longer labors and are almost five times more likely to have C-sections.

Ongoing lack of sleep during pregnancy can cause you nausea and lousy mood, weaken your immune system, and put you at a high risk of birth complications. It can also affect your baby's brain development in the womb and increase her risk for post-birth developmental issues.

What you should do:

  • Sleep on your side.
  • Wear comfortable maternity nightwear.
  • Exercise for at least half an hour every day.
  • Get up to 8-9 hours of sleep every night.
  • Drink plenty of fluids.
  • Stick to a consistent sleeping pattern.
  • Avoid any activity before bedtime.

Inactive Lifestyle

Gestational diabetes and excess weight gain during pregnancy can both increase the risk of fetal growth issues, serious birth complications and defects like stillborn and miscarriage, and maternal gestational weight gain after delivery. If not treated timely, it can lead to the subsequent risk of obesity, congenital heart defects, puffiness, and lethargy in the child.

What you can do:

  • Keep your diet under control.
  • Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.
  • Take a walk to send more oxygen to your brain.
  • Keep track of blood sugar levels.

Feeling Down or Anxious

Antenatal anxiety is a common experience among expectant moms. It refers to the fears following the pregnancy, like miscarriage, parenting, labor, etc., and may involve one or more of the following conditions:

  • Panic disorder
  • Social phobia
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Agoraphobia (feeling unsafe in open or public spaces)
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • Generalized anxiety

You may have antenatal anxiety if you:

  • Always feel down, nervous, and restless
  • Have recurring anxious thoughts that don't go away
  • Feel worried something is wrong or will go wrong
  • Have tense muscles
  • Feel tight in your chest
  • Experience panic attacks
  • Have trouble sleeping
  • Find it difficult to stay calm

If these symptoms continue for over two weeks, speak to your healthcare provider as high anxiety levels can increase your risk of miscarriage, preeclampsia, preterm birth, and low birth weight.

What you should do:

  • Eat well
  • Exercise and meditate
  • Avoid smoking, alcohol, and caffeine
  • Practice relaxation techniques
  • Talk to someone you trust

Bipolar Disorder

Previously known as 'manic depression,' bipolar disorder is much less common than antenatal anxiety and depression, affecting only 1-3% of pregnant women. Expectant moms with bipolar disorder experience 'periods' or 'episodes' where they may feel:

  • Extremely high, or mania
  • Extremely low, or depression

The symptoms of bipolar disorder depend on the mood that an expectant mom experiences at a certain period. The main causes of bipolar disorder during pregnancy include:

  • A sibling or parent with the condition
  • Bipolar episodes in the past

If not managed or treated effectively, bipolar disorder can put your baby at increased risk of congenital disabilities, such as:

  • Heart defects
  • Neural tube defects
  • Neurobehavioral disorders
  • Developmental delay

What you can do:

  • Drink plenty of fluids
  • Keep track of your lithium levels
  • Eat well and exercise regularly
  • Get enough sleep
  • Avoid alcohol, smoking, and drugs

Practice relaxation techniques