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.
What the baby will look like, 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:
Besides, shouting and screaming can be bad for the mother, causing her nausea, cramping, headaches, and sleep deprivation.
What you should do:
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:
While there is no definitive conclusion on how crying affects the fetus, it can sometimes be tricky to have these symptoms:
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:
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:
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:
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:
You may have antenatal anxiety if you:
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:
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:
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:
If not managed or treated effectively, bipolar disorder can put your baby at increased risk of congenital disabilities, such as:
What you can do:
Practice relaxation techniques
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