Psychology of pregnancy and motherhood - psychological hygiene of the expectant mother

Even the most wonderful and sensitive husband, who loves his wife and endlessly rejoices at the upcoming birth of a child, cannot himself understand many things related to the new state of the expectant mother.

The wife's character, her habits and preferences change, but the husband does not immediately realize these changes. In my opinion, a competent strategy in such a situation is to help a man understand and formulate the global changes that are happening to you.

And the words “my dear, good, guess for yourself” is a bad slogan for pregnancy and the first months of a baby’s life.

Men can’t think of many things, not because they don’t want to. And not specifically to spite you, but because their intuition is much worse developed than women. In addition, the average man's ability to empathize with another person's emotional states is much less than the average woman's. And one more thing - men simply physically lack those very places in the body that undergo such significant changes during pregnancy. Agree, it is difficult to imagine what the tone of the uterus is if you simply do not have this organ.

And if you want your husband to partially understand what it’s like for you, get ready to talk about your condition in detail and repeatedly.

Let's name only some points that men cannot understand without words and try to give advice on how to inform your husband without offending or injuring him.

How hormones affect the expectant mother's body

To understand the emotions of a pregnant woman, it is important to understand what they depend on.

Chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, hCG) is a hormone that begins to be produced immediately after implantation of the embryo, that is, on the 6th – 8th day after fertilization of the egg. Its sharp surge indicates the fact of conception, and an increase in the level over time indicates that the pregnancy is developing safely. This hormone seems to tell the body that it now needs to take care of the unborn baby, and thereby changes the functioning of many of its systems: the monthly cycle of egg ripening stops, and resistance to stress increases. And although the exact mechanism of morning sickness is not known to doctors, some associate it with this hormone.
The second important hormone for a pregnant woman is progesterone. Its production allows the muscles of the uterus to remain in a relaxed state, and the body not to reject the DNA of the new organism. However, this hormone also relaxes other muscles, which leads to a decrease in blood pressure, possible dizziness, as well as heartburn, reflux, increased gas formation, nausea and other symptoms. Progesterone can also cause excess body hair growth.
Estrogen levels also increase. It is important for fetal development and helps the uterus respond to the influence of oxytocin, another important hormone. An increased level of estrogen leads to the appearance of spider veins and age spots, nausea, increases appetite, and it is also responsible for the delicate beauty of pregnant women - when they are said to be glowing.
As pregnancy progresses, oxytocin helps the nipples produce milk and dilate the cervix.
Prolactin helps the body secrete milk and has a calming effect on the expectant mother.
Relaxin prepares the body for childbirth, helping the necessary tissues to stretch, which leads to the fact that all joints of the body become more mobile during pregnancy; pain and burning sensations may also appear, and the woman often begins to feel clumsy.

Now that you understand how complex the hormonal cocktail in the blood of an expectant mother is, it is easy to realize that fluctuations in your mood are a natural manifestation of the coordinated work of all systems of your body. So there is no need to blame yourself for them.

Recommendations for pregnant women on daily routine

Pregnant woman's daily routine

It is advisable for a pregnant woman to plan her daily routine for a week in advance. The fact is that pregnant women very often complain of poor memory and concentration. Therefore, the best option would be for the expectant mother to plan and write down her entire “work” week on a piece of paper.
Be sure to remember to schedule a visit to the gynecologist and take tests on the eve of your visit.
Also, a woman’s daily schedule should include rest and walking in the park or forest.
As for nutrition, the best option is three main meals a day and two or three light snacks.

How to stop striving for the “perfect” pregnancy

Whether we like it or not, society has a strong idea of what pregnancy should be like. According to him, a smiling, full of energy expectant mother carefully monitors her health, eats right, has time to breathe fresh air every day, goes to childbirth preparation courses, to the pool and to yoga for pregnant women. At the same time, she actively works until her maternity leave, achieving success. Such a mother’s home is always perfectly clean, healthy, balanced meals are prepared on the stove, and in her purse there is a plan for future births.

But reality doesn't look like that. Even if everything is in order, a pregnant woman may be bothered by gas, shortness of breath, skin problems, aching joints, back pain and disgust at the mere thought of gymnastics, a swimming pool or a walk in the park... And now the expectant mother feels “wrong”, not capable of coping with what is considered by everyone around to be the most natural state of a woman, her purpose and the main meaning of life. Thoughts about a pregnancy that does not fit into the “ideal” are the road to self-disappointment and depression.

There is another extreme. Ignoring their own desires, needs and body signals, some expectant mothers try to do everything to make their pregnancy seem prosperous. At this time, when her main desire should be the desire to relax and feel harmony, the woman brings herself to stress.

She thoroughly studies all reference materials, spends a lot of time searching for the best, most modern bandage, tirelessly analyzes her own diet, weighs herself and controls her nutrition, takes tests strictly on time, argues with doctors about brands of different vitamins, studies all the obstetricians in the city, prescribes a birth plan with a scientific basis for each stage, attends classes in two schools at once to prepare for childbirth (so as not to miss anything), listens to classical music on a schedule, and researches various early development methods in advance. Is it worth doing this? Sooner or later your strength will run out, and just at the very moment when you really need it.

Hypertension in pregnant women: recommendations

How to treat hypertension in pregnant women?

Treatment of hypertension during pregnancy has a number of limitations. Due to the fact that the expectant mother cannot take almost any medications, it becomes extremely difficult to alleviate her condition, much less treat such a disease. That is why doctors have two schemes to combat hypertension:

medicinal
non-drug

Non-drug treatment of hypertension involves adjusting a woman’s daily routine and lifestyle:

All harmful foods are excluded from her diet (salty, fatty, smoked, spicy, sweet, fried foods, offal, alcohol, coffee and chocolate)
a pregnant woman's food basket should be enriched with fruits, berries, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, olive and other healthy vegetable oils
It is mandatory to maintain a woman's water balance (1.5 liters of water per day), moderate physical activity and walks in the fresh air

If a non-drug regimen does not produce results, then the woman can be treated with pharmaceutical drugs. In milder cases, taking some vitamins or their complexes (magnesium, calcium) will be sufficient. In parallel, they may also be prescribed sedatives and drugs to improve blood circulation. Already in the most advanced cases, antihypertensive medications can be used.

How to overcome excessive demands on yourself

Pregnancy is a time to deal with anxiety and learn to relieve yourself of the burden of personal responsibility.

Looking for peace of mind

Pregnancy is a difficult process. The main metamorphoses are hidden in the depths and are not visible to us. In trying to control everything, a woman spends a lot of effort and wastes a lot of energy instead of calming down, finding balance and leaning on it. Now you need to find and maintain a state in which you are balanced, calm, feeling yourself, attentive and friendly to yourself.

Preserving individuality

There is no standard pregnancy, but there are varied and unique ones. Each of them reflects the life story behind the woman. Trying to fit your own, one-of-a-kind story into an image imposed by someone means not truly living your pregnancy, limiting yourself to a fake that imitates it. Listen to how your personality, with the accumulated experience of everything you have experienced, reveals itself in a new state for you. Pregnancy is more about self-absorption than social activity.

Learning to be flexible

Pregnancy and childbirth, no matter how carefully you prepare for them, still rarely turn out the way you planned. Here everything will happen by itself, and it is impossible to control this process. Therefore, you should relieve yourself of unnecessary responsibility and simply live, waiting for the happy moment of meeting your baby.

Look for simple and proven options in everything. Agusha dairy products, some of which expectant mothers receive free of charge at dairy kitchens, will allow you not to worry about how to provide yourself with food with a sufficient amount of calcium. You can be confident in the safety, high quality and beneficial properties of Agusha dairy products.

How to create a trusting relationship with an obstetrician-gynecologist

In order for you to feel psychological comfort, your pregnancy should be led by a person you trust. If you have a doctor, ask yourself:

Do you enjoy communicating with your doctor? How do you feel when you leave the office?
Does the doctor answer all your questions in detail and clearly?
is your doctor ready to be in touch with you, does he give you his mobile phone number? Of course, he is not obliged to do so. But responsible doctors still always care about patients and are ready, in exceptional cases, to briefly communicate even outside of working hours;
Does the doctor respect you?
Will he listen carefully to your questions? Will he be careful and careful with your feelings?

Trust in a doctor can consist of several aspects.

Perhaps the first and most important thing is that he must have a professional history of pregnancy management and successful childbirth. Perhaps someone recommended it to you.
He takes the time to answer all your questions.
He carefully collects anamnesis to exclude possible complications.
If problems arise, he honestly discusses with you the pros and cons of each way to overcome them, but he makes the final decision himself. A good doctor will not allow himself to leave you without tests if you do not want to take them, and will not prescribe a cheaper medicine if it is ineffective. And vice versa, he will not advertise something more complex and expensive if you do not have sufficient indications for it.
He collaborates with other doctors at the clinic who cover for him on weekends, vacations and sick days. Cooperates - it means he knows who and how he will give your card to during his absence.
He is confident in himself and his methods.
He doesn't blame you if you do something wrong.
He does everything to keep you positive.

The doctor must protect, comfort and support us. Since you expect honesty from a doctor, in order to build a trusting relationship with the doctor, it is important that you also be as frank as possible on your part. If there is something that causes shame and embarrassment, it is still important to voice it - past illnesses, abortions and other circumstances of your life that you would like to forget.

In addition, it is important to speak up immediately if something in the doctor’s behavior confuses or offends you. For example: “Could you please call me by name when you give instructions to the nurse?” If you see that the doctor adjusts his behavior for you without inappropriate reaction, this is a good sign. If not, then you shouldn’t stay in this office for a long time.

People's advice for pregnant women

Folk signs regarding pregnancy

There are a number of popular beliefs and signs regarding pregnant women:

If you are frightened, you should not grab your face or any part of the body - the baby will have a birthmark in that place
Do not go to the cemetery, and especially not to the funeral
Don't scream, otherwise the baby will be noisy
If you eat sweets during pregnancy, the baby will be kind, and if you eat salty, the baby will be evil.
If the mother eats in secret, the baby will either be timid or dishonest
You cannot sit on a threshold or on a stone
You can't climb out the window
You must not step over a broom (broom) or sharp things
You can't cut your hair during pregnancy
You should not give or borrow anything on the eve of childbirth.
You can't take pictures of a pregnant woman
You can't rock an empty cradle
If you knit or weave something during pregnancy, the baby will be entwined with the umbilical cord
If a pregnant woman has a sharp belly shape, then she is carrying a boy, if it is round, then she is carrying a girl.
If a woman begins to look bad during pregnancy, then she will have a girl, and she will give all her beauty to her
A pregnant woman should not enter church
A pregnant woman cannot have her children baptized - the birth will be difficult or something will happen to her godson

Some of the signs listed have nothing to do with common sense and cannot be interpreted as truth, while some simply warn about the dangers of committing rash acts.

We hope that this article will answer the numerous questions of pregnant women and dispel all their fears.

Rules of psychological hygiene

While expecting a baby, the expectant mother hears a lot of advice around her, she is told stories about pregnancy and childbirth, often imposing her own opinion. When communicating with friends, relatives, in line for a consultation, on the Internet, she listens to different points of view. This communication sometimes causes anxiety, the expectant mother thinks too much about pregnancy, but the number of fears does not decrease at all. What can be done to deal with this?

Accept your fears and anxieties as a given. Any feeling will go away if you don’t fight it, but just calmly experience it. The more you worry, the worse: chronic stress negatively affects your condition and the well-being of your baby.
Find a physical activity that really suits you, is enjoyable, enjoyable and distracting.
Realize yourself in creativity and hobbies. Look at the beautiful, think about the beautiful.
Limit communication with those who spoil your mood and scare you with unpleasant stories. Let there be people around you who support you.
Meet a calm, confident mother who, from the perspective of personal experience, can sometimes suggest, encourage, and support something.
Make an appointment with a psychologist, preferably on the recommendation of a person you trust.

Be happy and relaxed, enjoy your pregnancy and the changes that are happening to you.

Irritability.

Pregnancy makes a woman emotionally vulnerable, prone to anxiety, and more sensitive to negative experiences. It seems that the reason for frustration is insignificant, but the eyes are “wet”, and nothing makes you happy. Many women are haunted by the feeling that you are “trapped” by incessant nausea, fatigue that has come from somewhere, and constant irritability. Doctors explain this unstable emotional state by rapid hormonal changes occurring in the body. Only understanding that such a state is natural and quite physiological does not make this difficult period easier for a woman.

Psychologist's answer

Increased irritability is a signal to the expectant mother that she needs to learn to relax. This valuable skill will come to the rescue not only during pregnancy or at the time of childbirth, but will also have a positive impact on your life in general. The easiest way to relax is to turn on calm music, lie down, get comfortable, and focus on your breathing. Take a deep, calm breath and slowly, relaxed exhale. Imagine that with each exhalation comes relaxation and peace. By the way, moderate physical activity is an excellent remedy for the blues.

How to overcome the fear of childbirth

Childbirth is a natural part of life. Everyone passes through them when they are born. A woman passes through them, giving birth to her baby. Why does this natural, normal act cause fear? Because the expectant mother does not have enough information, but has a lot of worries, anxiety and fear of change. Let's look at what can be opposed to each of these conditions.

Raising awareness

Try to find out everything that interests you from reliable sources, which include trusted websites, high-quality books about pregnancy and childbirth, consultations with specialists, and childbirth preparation courses. You should not read stories on the Internet or trust the stories of your girlfriends.

Helplessness will be replaced by readiness and calm.

Increasing frequency of contractions is a signal that the process is going as it should. A contraction is just a muscle tension. Knowledge is power, and during childbirth, strength is very, very necessary.

Being aware of modern anesthesia techniques will help you. Talk to your doctor, ask him all the questions, share your doubts.

We realize the joint efforts during childbirth

Many women worry that they will have to go through the very moment of childbirth without the support of loved ones. But it is worth remembering that in this process there is another full participant who performs a very important and difficult part of the work. These efforts are given to him with great difficulty, he gets very tired and does everything to help you. This is your child. Moving along the birth canal, he changes position twice, adapting to the features of his first route. So you go through this process together with the person closest to you.

We take responsibility

To stop being afraid of childbirth, you need to admit that life will really change. This will bring you relief: now, instead of being afraid of change, you recognize it as a given.

Motherhood is a new life, and it begins with childbirth. At this moment you become a mother - responsible and caring. And then there will be fewer complications during childbirth, tension will subside, energy will be spent not on worries, but on pushing and helping the baby in the birth process.

Advice for husbands of pregnant women

How should husbands of pregnant women behave?

For those men who will soon become fathers and are already faced with the whims and mood swings of their pregnant wives, psychologists advise:

have patience
listen to your loved ones
indulge their whims (yes, it’s normal to want strawberries at night!)
show restraint and understanding
trying to reassure your wife and give her confidence
dispel all the fears of a pregnant woman - become a support for her
try to switch to proper nutrition with her
always accompany your wife on walks
at the request of the woman not to talk about her interesting situation
don't make fun of her appearance
arrange little surprises for her
help around the house
attend the ultrasound
muster up the courage to go with her to the birth

Psychological balance in every trimester

The first trimester is a period of getting used to the changes growing within you. Your usual way of perceiving the world and yourself in it is rapidly changing. Tastes, sensations, well-being, mood - it seems that nothing familiar remains, and you have to rediscover ways to feel good.

The main task of the first trimester is to find a balance point, to explore a state in which you will be comfortable, calm, and secure.
During this time, it makes sense to slow down your pace a little and become more involved in processes that bring you joy.
But constantly listening to yourself, on the contrary, is a dangerous tactic, because in the first 3 months of pregnancy anxiety flares up for any reason, and coping with fear against the backdrop of hormonal surges and poor health can be difficult.

So, the first trimester is a search for balance against the background of changes. The second trimester is a time when the stomach is not yet very disturbing, the first inconveniences have already passed and, in principle, there is quite a lot of strength.

You can start some small project: traveling, rearranging furniture (with the hands of loved ones, of course) or anything else that will be interesting to you. During this time, it becomes easier to enjoy your pregnancy.
This is also a time of anticipation for joyful changes and a period in which observing oneself can be more interesting than being involved in something external.
The baby's first movements bring great joy and open up the opportunity to build a special relationship with him - stroking him, singing him songs, telling him fairy tales, going to symphony music concerts with him and giving him long walks.
The second trimester is the time of recognizing yourself in the new incarnation of the expectant mother, and safety precautions during this period are associated with ensuring that the pregnancy is psychologically accepted and supported by your environment. If there is a person among your loved ones who doubts your ability and willingness to be the best mother in the world to your baby, you should stop communicating with him.

The third trimester is a time of patience. Pregnancy has been going on long enough for it to stop surprising and start to tire. This is especially evident in the last 5 weeks, when it becomes not very comfortable to sit or lie down, and serious restrictions in mobility appear.

It's time to start taking care of your comfort for the remaining period of pregnancy and the first time after childbirth. Is everything conveniently located in the kitchen? Is ironing clothes so important? Should I change the vacuum cleaner? Is the air in the rooms sufficiently humidified? Right now we need to finally solve the problem with dripping taps, crookedly hanging cabinets, etc.
In addition, it is time to organize a circle of support and establish harmonious interaction with those who will help you with your baby after birth. You can redistribute responsibilities around the house and shift the work schedules of your “support” loved ones so that you have the opportunity to ask for help and receive it.
The third trimester is the time of final nesting, and by the end of it everything should be as expected. Safety precautions at this stage are associated with creating a comfortable space, with caring about who is about to come into your life.

Tips for pregnant women in the heat and at sea

How should a pregnant woman behave in the heat at sea?

Here are a number of tips to help pregnant women better cope with the heat and enjoy a holiday at sea:

It is advisable to sunbathe before 10 o'clock in the afternoon and after 17 o'clock in the evening
air baths can only be taken in dense shade
It is imperative to use special protective cosmetics (preferably creams, not milk)
In the sun you need to drink more clean, non-carbonated water
The head must be covered with a light hat
In extreme heat, it is best to satisfy your hunger with vegetables or fruits
Swimming is allowed only in clean, inspected bodies of water