The 40 weeks period of pregnancy is full of challenges. Everything from anxiety about pain during labor and the pregnancy itself can take a toll on both you and your baby.
In fact, a study found that women who live with the fear of childbirth during pregnancy and are very stressed about labour pain, tend to have longer labour (approximately 47 minutes longer) as compared to those who are not as fearful.
Yet another study found that practicing mindful meditation during this period can help you manage perinatal anxiety, reduce the fear of labour and lower the risk of postpartum depression.
Statistically, about 18 percent of women experience depression during pregnancy and 21 percent have serious anxiety. This is where mindfulness can prove to be very effective. It’s both accessible and easy for you to practice for a healthier you and baby.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a beautiful practice to keep you rooted with life as it flows by. By paying attention to life unfolding right now in the present moment, within us and around us.
It is about being more aware of your thoughts, feelings, emotions, aches, pains and your surroundings. Experts say that except for your attention, nothing is in human control.
Life is always unfolding in the present moment. It is only in the here and now that one can truly connect to and engage with life. Every other moment where we put our mind – past or future – is imagination.
What is meditation?
Meditation is a technique by which you can train your brain to be mindful. Deep breathing exercises or trying to stay with your breath for a certain amount of time is meditation.
But trying to be aware of your bodily sensations while meditating, noticing the thoughts and gently coming back to your breath without being judgmental about them, is mindful meditation.
What are the benefits of Mindfulness Meditation during Pregnancy?
1. Reduces stress significantly
Research suggests that pregnant women who participated in an 8 weeks mindfulness meditation course showed reduction in levels of anxiety, and negative feelings like distress, hostility and shame.
Many pregnant women experience a loop of worries like ‘Will my baby be healthy?’, ‘I am scared of labor’, ‘Am I eating enough for my baby?’, ‘Something is not right – do I need to go to the doctor?’. All these worries can be controlled by practicing mindfulness regularly during pregnancy.
2. Boosts positive feelings
Mindfulness can be practiced not just by meditating but by being mindful while doing different activities throughout the day. You can cook and eat mindfully, you can sleep mindfully and you can even walk and exercise mindfully.
It creates more awareness of the present moment and helps you feel more positive and radiant. This positivity gets transferred to the baby too.
3. May prevent premature birth
Babies born before 37 weeks are considered to be premature. And mothers of premature babies have been found to have high rates of anxiety, depression and stress which often goes unacknowledged.
Premature babies have a high risk of breathing problems, vision and hearing issues & developmental delays. Research suggests that practicing mindfulness regularly during pregnancy can reduce the risk of premature delivery and lower birth weight among babies.
4. Promote healthy development of the baby
A new wave of research is looking at the impact of mindful mothers on infancy and it has been found that mothers who practice mindfulness from the beginning of the 2nd trimester, their babies have fewer developmental problems.
A major impact has also been seen on the level of hyperactivity and ability to adjust to the new environment by the babies during infancy.
What kind of Mindfulness techniques can you try during pregnancy?
Mindfulness is a practice and it needs to be followed regularly. It is a method of working deeply with your own mind. If a method is not applied regularly, its usefulness cannot be experienced. There are 2 aspects to a daily mindfulness practice –
1. Formal Mindfulness Practice – Meditation
This is a practice of sitting for a specific time span, with the sole intention of paying attention to the object of meditation, such as your breath or the body; letting go of the thoughts, worries, tensions, judgments, criticisms, and staying connected to the anchor of the breath.
2. Informal Mindfulness Practice – Awareness of the present moment
This is an ongoing practice of paying attention to every moment during the day while doing various activities. While washing dishes or while taking a walk in the garden, paying attention to the sounds of birds and greenery around, while eating, focusing on the smell, taste and texture of the food, consuming it very slowly and gradually.
These are the ways in which you can be mindful throughout the day and not keep yourself lost in negative and anxious thoughts which lead you nowhere.
- Body Scan –This involves scanning your body for various aches and pains, feeling them during the course of meditation, being more aware of the ways in which your emotions and worries are manifested in the body and eventually learning to cope with them by just observing and scanning your body mindfully.
- Walking Meditation –This involves walking mindfully, very slowly, watching every step and focussing on your breath at the same time. While walking, you should also focus on the sounds of nature around you and closely observe what is visible to you. Drawing all your attention to the present moment and walking mindfully can be a very useful technique to relax yourself and relieve stress or anxiety.
Are there any risks of practicing mindfulness during pregnancy?
Practicing meditation has been found to be very safe and effective for expectant mothers. In very rare cases, where mothers have an underlying psychiatric condition or prolonged mental issues, it is recommended to consult your treating physician before beginning mindfulness.
Meditation position also needs to be well adjusted with pillows and cushions around, considering your increasing weight and baby bump during pregnancy. Nevertheless, once you get used to it, it becomes easy to sit for a long duration and practice.
Mindfulness can typically help in the following conditions among pregnant women –
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Stress
- Insomnia or lack of sleep
- Fear associated with labor
- Postpartum depression
Can mindfulness meditation help when you are in labor?
Yes, if practiced regularly during the entire third trimester upto labor, mindfulness can be very effective in reducing the unknown fear associated with labor and childbirth. It may also help you develop more resistance to labor pain and build mental strength to face it.
During labor, deep breathing exercises along with guided imagery (positive visualization) can even help you reduce labor pain and the duration of labor.
Mindfulness meditation is a practice and it requires a lot of patience and wisdom to begin with this practice. To start with, just sit for a few minutes and slowly increase the time. Set a realistic goal.
Often people try to sit for longer durations and subsequently fail. Though you can always try to meditate on your own, it is always recommended that you first learn the technique from an expert and then practice it on your own. More than the actions, intention is important when you decide to live mindfully.
Practice mindfulness and experience positivity along with your baby.
You can attend some online courses on Mindfulness. Get in touch with us to know more about Mindfulness Meditation.
For more information, visit our website on https://www.fitterfly.com/pregstar or call us on +9122 48971077 (ext. 4).