Manage your emotions well to help you easily cope with the emotional roller coaster during pregnancy

Author: Duan Yanping, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Reviewer: Ma Liangkun, Chief Physician, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Pregnancy is a very important stage in a woman's life. During this stage, women will experience physical discomfort such as morning sickness, swelling, and pain. They will also be under tremendous pressure from role changes, family relationships, and infant care. It is normal to have negative emotional reactions, among which anxiety and depression are the most common. These negative emotions are not good for the health of mothers and babies. Therefore, good emotional management is an important part of health management during pregnancy. So how can pregnant mothers manage their emotions? Here are some tips for you.

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1. Accept your emotions

Although we don’t like negative emotions such as sadness, anger, frustration, pain, anxiety, tension, etc., these emotions are inevitable during pregnancy. For example, when the pregnancy check-up indicators are not satisfactory, pregnant mothers will be anxious and cry because of worrying about the health of the fetus. At this time, pregnant mothers should realize that "seven emotions and six desires are normal human emotions". Whether there are positive emotions such as happiness and joy, or negative emotions such as anxiety, frustration, sadness, etc. during pregnancy, they are all very normal phenomena, and they should open their arms to accept all emotions.

2. Positive Emotions

Human wisdom lies in not wanting to fall in the same place twice. The brain will involuntarily remember and avoid pain. Consciously recording, recalling and sharing beautiful and happy moments can often stimulate a sense of happiness and satisfaction. For example, pregnant mothers can use an empty cookie box as a "piggy bank", write good memories on a piece of paper, and then fold the paper and store it in the "piggy bank". When you are in a bad mood, take a piece of paper from the "piggy bank", read aloud and share those happy moments, which can often enhance happiness and play a positive emotional role.

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3. Mindfulness Practice

Mindfulness practice is a good way to manage emotions. Mindfulness means paying attention to and being aware of everything in the present moment with a purpose and consciousness, without judging, analyzing or reacting to everything in the present moment, but simply being aware of it and paying attention to it. For example, mindful eating means feeling the entire process of eating with your whole body and mind, such as feeling the color, texture, shape and touch of the food, feeling the feeling of the lips touching the food, feeling the feeling of the tongue, teeth and oral mucosa every time you chew, and feeling the feeling of food entering the esophagus and stomach. Pregnant women who have the conditions can also practice "raisin meditation", which is an exercise to cultivate mindfulness and awareness by highly focused observation and experience of a small object (such as a raisin). It can help beginners gradually enter the state of mindfulness meditation, improve concentration, reduce stress, and enhance self-awareness. Once pregnant mothers have mastered the basic methods of mindfulness practice, they can bring the awareness of mindfulness practice into their daily lives, including walking, breathing, meditation and childbirth.

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4. Feel the Nature

We often have little time to notice and feel the beauty of nature due to busy indoor work. We encourage every pregnant mother to take time out every day to walk outdoors, feel the breeze, smell the flowers and soil, and feel the beauty of nature. Pregnant mothers who are good at painting can also draw the beautiful nature they observe every day.

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5. Relax with music

Beautiful music can often bring us a pleasant emotional experience. Listening to music can effectively reduce stress and anxiety during pregnancy. Pregnant mothers are encouraged to listen to nursery rhymes, lullabies, classical music, etc. with their babies in their belly, or sing to their babies themselves. Alpha wave music is more likely to make people relax. Pregnant mothers can choose alpha wave music as the background of their life and enjoy the music while lying or sitting. For pregnant mothers with a musical background, creating or practicing music is also a wonderful experience.

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6. Breathe and relax

Breathing awareness exercises can help pregnant mothers focus on the present moment. For example, pregnant mothers can consciously focus on the tip of the nose, chest or abdomen, where the breathing feeling is most obvious, and continue to be aware for a few minutes, up to 30 minutes. The key to breathing is to only be aware without evaluation, judgment or analysis.

7. Good sleep

Studies show that 87% of pregnant women experience sleep disorders, and half of them have decreased sleep quality. Good sleep hygiene behavior can effectively improve sleep disorders. First of all, "don't go to bed if you are not sleepy", try to avoid doing things that are not related to sleep in bed, don't lie in bed watching TV, playing with mobile phones or reading, etc., you can do some bedtime rituals, such as brushing teeth, changing pajamas, turning off mute, etc., and then lie quietly in bed. Next, limit the time in bed, and it is recommended to leave the bed after waking up. Finally, it is recommended that pregnant mothers sleep in bed and not take a nap on the sofa. For pregnant mothers who work from home, you can divide an office area at home and put all work-related materials, office supplies, etc. in this area. If you leave this area, you will not deal with any work-related matters.

8. Dealing with Fear

Faced with the uncertainty of the examination results, pregnant mothers are prone to anxiety, tension, worry and other emotions before each prenatal examination, and even "white coat hypertension". Anxiety can easily cause symptoms such as high blood pressure, increased heart rate, and sweating. When "white coat hypertension" occurs, if the self-measured blood pressure and heart rate at home are normal in a relaxed state, there is no need to worry. Pregnant mothers can go to the clinic half an hour in advance, sit quietly for a while, and relax themselves through breathing relaxation, music relaxation or meditation exercises. Don't pay attention to the blood pressure monitor when measuring blood pressure. You can divert your attention and focus on your breathing or listen to music to reduce the phenomenon of high blood pressure. Fear of childbirth is also a common phenomenon throughout pregnancy, and it is more obvious in the third trimester. Pregnant mothers can learn some delivery methods and techniques before delivery and prepare for delivery with their families. In addition to the drug analgesia that may be used in the hospital, there are many non-drug methods that can help reduce the pain and fear of childbirth, such as listening to music, mindfulness training, relaxation techniques, etc.

It is common to experience negative emotions such as anxiety and depression during pregnancy. You must learn to accept your emotions, actively deal with them and stabilize them. You must improve your mood through various relaxation exercises, form good sleeping habits, actively deal with the fear of childbirth, give birth happily and smoothly, and enjoy the wonderful process of the entire pregnancy.