Stress already in the womb?

The unborn gets a lot more than we think. Unhappiness, fear or anger, and feelings of happiness – nothing escapes the little ones so quickly. For example, if the mother’s blood pressure or heartbeat increases, more hormones or adrenaline are released, which the baby absorbs through the umbilical cord. The course of the pregnancy, therefore, plays an important role. Everything that happens to the child nine months before birth also affects the child’s personality and attitude towards life.

The course of pregnancy affects the child.

“The period of life in the womb is the origin of health and illness” – this is how the US physiologist Peter Nathanielsz describes a phenomenon that doctors and psychologists are increasingly fascinated with: “Fetal Programming”. The course for the physical and mental health of the child could already be set in the womb – possibly under the influence of maternal hormones. Studies showing more details are currently underway. But one thing is sure: development in the womb is more important than most realize.

 

Fetal Programming

“Fetal Programming” is a relatively young branch of medicine and means as much as imprinting lifelong predispositions to disease in the womb. Never again will man grow as fast as he did in the womb. Therefore, disorders during pregnancy can influence later health, such as the risk of developing obesity, diabetes mellitus or arteriosclerosis.

What scientists initially only suspected has been proven by clinical studies: If you are poorly nourished in the womb, your health may be at risk for the rest of your life. For example, If a baby is tiny after birth, it is often because the mother was poorly nourished during pregnancy or was even hungry. Studies also indicate that too much stress during pregnancy can cause the child to become more sensitive to stress throughout life.

traces in the brain

More and more research findings indicate that drastic stress during pregnancy can leave permanent marks on the brain of the unborn child. Researchers found out that the mother’s stress hormones, which are released in stressful situations, can get into the unborn child’s metabolism and affect the developing brain of the unborn child. Not without consequences: prenatal stress can permanently impair the body’s stress regulation.

German tanks that rolled over the Netherlands during World War II are still having untold effects decades later – in those in the womb in May 1940. The children who were still unborn at the time of the lightning invasion were far more likely to develop diabetes, high blood pressure and schizophrenia later in life.

 

Babies feel

Fear, anger, rejection and stress negatively affect children’s development. For example, if the mother’s heartbeat accelerates due to stress, that of the child will double shortly after that. Intense fears or stress during pregnancy mean that children are born too small or too early.

But not every excitement during pregnancy must necessarily be harmful to the child. Stress that only causes a little harm does not harm the unborn child. Another consolation is that a happy early childhood in a loving family can heal many wounds.

What is suitable for the unborn?

Even after conception, the developing life begins to adapt to life with the mother and reacts to the influences to which it is exposed. The calmer, more balanced, and content the mother-to-be is, the more favourable the development conditions for the unborn child will be because security begins in the womb. Loving affection and the mother’s anticipation of the unborn positively affect the child.

By the sixth month at the latest, the unborn child will feel vibrations, pressure and temperature, for example, when the mother puts her hand on her stomach. The mother can, therefore, have a straightforward influence on the mental life of her child. A calm and normal heartbeat of the mother promotes sleep and soft music or conversations between the mother and the baby, which the unborn child can already perceive. On the other hand, signals, noise stimuli and annoying music trigger the opposite reaction.

Conclusion

In summary, a mother can transfer stress to her child or consciously protect her from too much stress. Inner security is the ability to come to terms, but contentment and inner balance can strengthen the unborn child. The child in the womb perceives too many stressful stimuli as stress, which can also harm it. The calming heartbeat of a balanced, content mother looking forward to her child promotes emotional and healthy development. So, the most important thing for the child is feeling accepted, loved and wanted.