10 ways to overcome stress during pregnancy
1. Rest whenever you can
Finding time to relax seems simple, but sometimes very difficult. However, not only is good for you, but is great for the baby, so do not feel guilty for taking the time to "do nothing".
While you're at work, trying to find a place where you can relax during lunch and put your legs up and, when you get home, remove some housework. Although many of us like having the house shining, now is the time to be a perfectionist. If you already have children it is more difficult to find time to relax, but you could ask your partner, a friend or the grandparents to care for them one evening from time to time so you can enjoy a well deserved rest.
2. Yoga for pregnancy
Yoga for pregnancy keeps the body flexible and teaches many relaxation techniques. Practice will help during pregnancy and childbirth. If you are prone to suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, breathing techniques used by practicing yoga can also reassure you.
Find out some excellent benefits of yoga in pregnancy.
3. Share your concerns
If you spend sleepless nights wondering if your baby will be born healthy or who will care when you get back to work, you're not alone. Talking about your concerns, whether with your partner, your mother or a friend who already have children, will help a lot. Other women at the same stage of pregnancy as you, maybe your class who attend childbirth preparation, probably share your anxieties. Talk to them, because they can support each other. And do not forget to use the class teacher, your doctor or midwife, they can also reassure you.
4. Relaxation Techniques
Getting a massage during pregnancy is a great way to relax. There are therapists who specialize in massage for pregnant women. You can find them in the Yellow Pages telephone directory.
The techniques of meditation and positive visualization are also useful. Meditation is a way to relax by concentrating on a point of mental focus or your own breathing. Positive visualization is a technique to overcome anxieties by creating a mental image of a scene reassuring. You can search your local library or on the Internet for some books that teach you to relax as there are more than plenty alternatives out there. There are also tapes or disks to induce relaxation, which come very cheap (you can find on the Internet or in a good bookstore). Choose a time that you will not have any interruptions and meditates for 20 minutes at least.
5. Get ready for delivery
Perhaps you are suffering from thinking about childbirth and how to endure pain, or how your partner reacts. If you learn as much as you can in advance you will feel much more secure. You can learn a lot about all the stages of labor, as well as physical and emotional aspects that mark each stage by enrolling in a class of childbirth, reading books and magazines. If you're going to have the baby in a hospital, it will also help you to visit the maternity area and enter the rooms where women are in labor.
For some women the fear of childbirth becomes so overwhelming that they even rather have a caesarean section. The terror part is called "tocofobia". If you feel overwhelmed by fear, talk to your doctor or midwife. Studies indicate that with proper support, you can overcome fear.
6. Changes in the relationship with your partner
Sometimes pregnancy can create tensions between partners, for example, if you're too tired to be intimate, if your husband can not understand the sudden changes of mood hormones that affect you, or the new life that lies ahead - that means less time for the couple and costs - are causing anxiety. Try to share your concerns with your partner so you can face and overcome together.
7. Strategies to facilitate the journey to work
If you work, you may have planned to continue doing so until near the due date to spend more time with your baby once he is born. But the round trip to work can become a source of stress, the greater the more it grows your tummy.
If you are using public transportation, ask your boss if you can start and end the workday earlier or later to avoid rush hours. If your work is done primarily by computer, maybe you can ask permission to do so from the house one day a week.
When traveling by bus or subway, try sitting. If the bus is full and no one offered a seat, ask. Go stagger and expose yourself to a fall is not good when you're pregnant. Most people willingly gives way to a pregnant woman, but sometimes you have to remind them.
8. Money worries
There is no doubt that having a baby affects finances. If you're worried about how to cope with the extra expenses, make a list of items you need in order of priority and decide who you can ask to get them from family and friends. There's oftentimes no need to buy everything, especially things that are only used a couple of months as a bassinet or small crib.
Make sure that you will receive all the money that suits you during maternity leave. You can talk to the person responsible for Human Resources in your company for advice.
9. Diet and Exercise
There are some foods that can help balance the hormones that are triggered in times of stress. Foods containing B vitamins, such as yeast extract, bread and rice grain, increase the levels of the hormone serotonin, which is anti-stress.
Exercise also reduces stress, and continues to do so, provided it is a safe activity. If you have doubts, ask your doctor if it is. If you go to a gym class, inform the teacher you're pregnant to adapt the exercises in a safe way for you and your baby.
Swimming is ideal exercise during pregnancy, because it keeps you flexible and healthy, but does not damage joints. Special aerobics classes for pregnant women are also a fun way to stay in shape.
When you are at work, get up and walk from time to time if your job requires you to spend much time sitting, and lunch out is a breath of fresh air, if only ten minutes.
10. Indulge
There is nothing more relaxing than laughing, so take advantage of any opportunity to drop some good laughs. Did they just release a good comedy? Then go to the movies with some friends. Your nerves will dissipate with the first laugh.
A weekend road trip with your partner or a few hours at a spa that offers specific treatments for pregnant women are perfect antidotes to stress.
Pregnancy is also the perfect time to indulge from time to time with little luxuries you would normally not allow. For example, when the belly grows so large that it almost cost you to touch your feet, treat yourself to a pedicure.
Indulge! You deserve it.
Finding time to relax seems simple, but sometimes very difficult. However, not only is good for you, but is great for the baby, so do not feel guilty for taking the time to "do nothing".
While you're at work, trying to find a place where you can relax during lunch and put your legs up and, when you get home, remove some housework. Although many of us like having the house shining, now is the time to be a perfectionist. If you already have children it is more difficult to find time to relax, but you could ask your partner, a friend or the grandparents to care for them one evening from time to time so you can enjoy a well deserved rest.
2. Yoga for pregnancy
Yoga for pregnancy keeps the body flexible and teaches many relaxation techniques. Practice will help during pregnancy and childbirth. If you are prone to suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, breathing techniques used by practicing yoga can also reassure you.
Find out some excellent benefits of yoga in pregnancy.
3. Share your concerns
If you spend sleepless nights wondering if your baby will be born healthy or who will care when you get back to work, you're not alone. Talking about your concerns, whether with your partner, your mother or a friend who already have children, will help a lot. Other women at the same stage of pregnancy as you, maybe your class who attend childbirth preparation, probably share your anxieties. Talk to them, because they can support each other. And do not forget to use the class teacher, your doctor or midwife, they can also reassure you.
4. Relaxation Techniques
Getting a massage during pregnancy is a great way to relax. There are therapists who specialize in massage for pregnant women. You can find them in the Yellow Pages telephone directory.
The techniques of meditation and positive visualization are also useful. Meditation is a way to relax by concentrating on a point of mental focus or your own breathing. Positive visualization is a technique to overcome anxieties by creating a mental image of a scene reassuring. You can search your local library or on the Internet for some books that teach you to relax as there are more than plenty alternatives out there. There are also tapes or disks to induce relaxation, which come very cheap (you can find on the Internet or in a good bookstore). Choose a time that you will not have any interruptions and meditates for 20 minutes at least.
5. Get ready for delivery
Perhaps you are suffering from thinking about childbirth and how to endure pain, or how your partner reacts. If you learn as much as you can in advance you will feel much more secure. You can learn a lot about all the stages of labor, as well as physical and emotional aspects that mark each stage by enrolling in a class of childbirth, reading books and magazines. If you're going to have the baby in a hospital, it will also help you to visit the maternity area and enter the rooms where women are in labor.
For some women the fear of childbirth becomes so overwhelming that they even rather have a caesarean section. The terror part is called "tocofobia". If you feel overwhelmed by fear, talk to your doctor or midwife. Studies indicate that with proper support, you can overcome fear.
6. Changes in the relationship with your partner
Sometimes pregnancy can create tensions between partners, for example, if you're too tired to be intimate, if your husband can not understand the sudden changes of mood hormones that affect you, or the new life that lies ahead - that means less time for the couple and costs - are causing anxiety. Try to share your concerns with your partner so you can face and overcome together.
7. Strategies to facilitate the journey to work
If you work, you may have planned to continue doing so until near the due date to spend more time with your baby once he is born. But the round trip to work can become a source of stress, the greater the more it grows your tummy.
If you are using public transportation, ask your boss if you can start and end the workday earlier or later to avoid rush hours. If your work is done primarily by computer, maybe you can ask permission to do so from the house one day a week.
When traveling by bus or subway, try sitting. If the bus is full and no one offered a seat, ask. Go stagger and expose yourself to a fall is not good when you're pregnant. Most people willingly gives way to a pregnant woman, but sometimes you have to remind them.
8. Money worries
There is no doubt that having a baby affects finances. If you're worried about how to cope with the extra expenses, make a list of items you need in order of priority and decide who you can ask to get them from family and friends. There's oftentimes no need to buy everything, especially things that are only used a couple of months as a bassinet or small crib.
Make sure that you will receive all the money that suits you during maternity leave. You can talk to the person responsible for Human Resources in your company for advice.
9. Diet and Exercise
There are some foods that can help balance the hormones that are triggered in times of stress. Foods containing B vitamins, such as yeast extract, bread and rice grain, increase the levels of the hormone serotonin, which is anti-stress.
Exercise also reduces stress, and continues to do so, provided it is a safe activity. If you have doubts, ask your doctor if it is. If you go to a gym class, inform the teacher you're pregnant to adapt the exercises in a safe way for you and your baby.
Swimming is ideal exercise during pregnancy, because it keeps you flexible and healthy, but does not damage joints. Special aerobics classes for pregnant women are also a fun way to stay in shape.
When you are at work, get up and walk from time to time if your job requires you to spend much time sitting, and lunch out is a breath of fresh air, if only ten minutes.
10. Indulge
There is nothing more relaxing than laughing, so take advantage of any opportunity to drop some good laughs. Did they just release a good comedy? Then go to the movies with some friends. Your nerves will dissipate with the first laugh.
A weekend road trip with your partner or a few hours at a spa that offers specific treatments for pregnant women are perfect antidotes to stress.
Pregnancy is also the perfect time to indulge from time to time with little luxuries you would normally not allow. For example, when the belly grows so large that it almost cost you to touch your feet, treat yourself to a pedicure.
Indulge! You deserve it.
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