Guide to Informed Choices
Curl up in a comfy chair at your public library and read up about pregnancy, motherhood and birth.
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Curl up in a comfy chair at your public library and read up about pregnancy, motherhood and birth.
Write a letter to your unborn child, pouring out your inner thoughts and M T
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feelings. Start collecting baby clothes, books, toys or other fun items.
Ask the doctor to let you hear your baby‘s heartbeat.
Begin creating your baby's nursery, whether she has her own room or a just a corner of yours.
Buy some pretty maternity clothing and wear it with pride.
Enjoy it when you first start to feel her move inside her.
Talk to your unborn child so she learns to recognize your voice. For more on the fetus‘ hearing see Reason #55 . Pray for her now — don‘t wait till birth to bless her.
Join an online group for mothers to be and share your excitement with others.
Why rock a baby? Babies often like to be rocked to sleep or just soothed. Perhaps this reminds them of the gentle jolting movements they experienced in the womb. 619 Get
yourself a rocking chair and soothing music and enjoy some quiet time together now.
Through the rest of this Reason we are
going to look at some more ways in which you can be close, as well as participate in your baby's development before birth — now that‘s a nice idea!
Feed your child‘s emotional development As mother, you play a big role in teaching and guiding you child after birth, but in some ways you play a bigger role beforehand. This is because before birth you can not only talk to your child, you can chemically communicate love and happy feelings directly to your child‘s growing brain. 620
—Dr. Frederick Wirth, Prenatal Parenting
haring happy emotions is no longer some mythical, make-believe concept. It's real and it can be practiced by you right now today! ―How is this possible,‖ you ask? ―I'm not superhuman.‖ Perhaps not, but your body is. Let‘s look at how this is possible. Every feeling has a corresponding chemical and, when you experience an emotion, that chemical is released in your body. Hormones are one substance that can cross the placental barrier and, as these hormones flow
into your
baby's bloodstream, they recreate in her body what is going on in your body. For example, that could be the low blood pressure of relaxation or the pumping excitement of adrenaline. In that way your baby actually feels excitement or relaxation S
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along with you. I'd like to share with you now two fictional examples of how the unborn child can learn from your emotions, so that you can be a positive influence. In the first example from Prenatal Parenting, the unborn child hears her father and mother talking and laughing about a happy incident that they both enjoyed. As the fetus hears this with his ears he physically experiences the same chemicals that were produced by his mother‘s emotions. In this case it was happiness, and he feels good about the whole experience.
mother do not get along so well and they are arguing and he is laughing and ridiculing her. As the fetus hears this he physically experiences his
mother‘s hormones and other chemical messengers. In this case he feels anger and rejection. 621
Often these scenes repeat themselves again and again and again during the nine months — and hopefully it‘s the good ones that are repeated! Now try to imagine after birth as the baby hears her father‘s laugh. Will she be preconditioned to associate that sound as a happy sound or a bad one? Of course, we can‘t always control your surroundings, but we can control our reactions to them. Remember that we are talking about trends and constant feelings, not passing moments. Note also that you don‘t have to have a happy life to send positive messages to your child — your reaction and response to events is what he learns. (Of course, I do hope you all have wonderful, happy lives!) If you think about it, it‘s a pretty amazing time. At no other time in your life will you be able to actually share the chemical messages of another person. Babies and mothers do this. They are as close as close can be, while still being individuals, which I guess is the amazing part.
Provide a stimulating environment for your child‘s brain
Folklorists claim an infant can learn even before birth and can assimilate aspects of the environment before any direct contact with that environment. Such a proposal can be tested, has been tested, and the folklorists are turning out to be correct. 622
The Infant Mind
hile babies are born with an incredible learning capacity the saying, ―if you don‘t use it you lose it,‖ is especially true for the babies: ―While the human baby is born with literally trillions of unprogrammed circuits just waiting to be stimulated into great poetry or science or music, there is the W
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reality that for many key capacities, circuits not used may die.‖ 623
This makes sense when you consider that children who have a stimulating environment are frequently brighter than those who are neglected. Just compare the poor orphan baby that lies alone in his crib with minimal interaction and no affection. He is slow, unused to affection, and his eyes are not quick to follow you. Contrast this with the bright-eyed baby who spends his time crawling around the floor chasing mommy and reading books on her lap. But what are the implications of this for your yet unborn child? Is there anything you can do now, before birth? While this is still a very new area of research we do have some useful information. Studies have found that babies who were interacted with in the womb tend to develop earlier and be ahead of their age counterparts. 624
before birth.
At 20 weeks your baby‘s brain cells are multiplying at 250,000 times a minute.
625 His brain will produce twice the amount of brain cells that he needs. What happens to all the rest? According to Babycare Before Birth , ―The excess that are not stimulated won‘t connect and will die. This is a natural process that happens at around eight months, so don‘t wait until your baby is born to start maximizing its potential brain power — the more connections there are, the fewer the number of brain cells that will die.‖ 626
Did you know? -There are critical periods for the development of your child‘s brain before birth and soon after when the neurons or
brain cells
are developing connections. 627
-You have the maximum capacity to learn new things from about a 6 month old fetus until about 2 years old. 628
What can you do to provide a stimulating environment for your child's brain? Talk, read, or sing. Just as newborns prefer the voice they‘ve heard most clearly for 9 months, so the fetus shows a preference for her mother‘s voice. Your fetus‘ heart rate slows down when she hears your voice indicating that she is calmed by it. 629
Hearing speech can actually assist his brain development. Dr. Wirth wrote so poetically: ―Words are like little carpenters that enter the brain and build the centers dedicated to receptive and expressive language.‖ 630
Whether or not she can hear you yet, you can still talk to the soul of your child which is present at conception. Do you remember reading earlier how babies of deaf mothers sound different? Your child is listening to you and learning
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even before birth. Focus on positive, happy pictures and sounds hinking on good things (Phil 4:8). It's good advice for anyone, at any time. But it may be so especially for pregnant women. Greeks and Romans often had their pregnant women look at beautiful statues and listen to classical music. They did this because they thought such things would be impressed upon the mother and subsequently the child. The concept is ancient and was more recently voiced by painter and visionary Leonardo da Vinci: ―The things desired by the mother are often found impressed on the child which the mother carries at the time of the desire.‖ 631
In my research I found another source of this idea in Jewish teachings. Some Jewish rabbis encourage mothers to be spiritual in order to pass on those qualities to
their child.
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One website, JewishMom.com, encourages a woman to consider how she may influence her child: ―A contemporary leader of Breslov Chassidim has said that pregnant women must bear in mind how their thoughts, emotions, and actions influence the children that they carry…The fetus is a living part of her, and all that she sees, does, feels, and thinks during pregnancy has an effect on the adult this baby will grow to be.‖ 633
regarding emotional health: ―Jewish tradition encourages pregnant women to zealously guard their upbeat outlooks and positive perspectives by avoiding situations that will bring them down emotionally — such as listening to slander, gossip and crude talk. Other no- noes are becoming angry, and looking at scary things (sorry to all the horror movie fans out there).‖ 634
where optimistic mothers had fewer pregnancy problems than pessimistic ones. Moving on now to a useful tool for uplifting your attitude as well as stimulating your baby's brain. Yes, it‘s music. Certain types of classical music are known to influence brain wave patterns, putting you and by effect, your baby, into a relaxed or focused state. Recommended music includes certain pieces by Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. What is not very well known is that music has a physical effect upon your body and is capable of reducing stress hormones. Perhaps you have heard of the Mozart effect or seen the CDs they sell for babies? It‘s based on the idea that rats who were exposed to Mozart were better at navigating mazes. 635 Human studies — including a pen and paper maze — seem to back up the idea with students performing better with spatial tests after listening to T
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the music. 636
In summary, many different sources suggest this same idea, that what we surround ourselves with during pregnancy will influence ourselves and, in turn, our baby. With today‘s understanding of the connection between
emotions and
hormones, we are starting to see how a mother may leave impressions on her growing child. While science may not be able to prove the benefits of focusing on positive things, it certainly can‘t hurt to try.
A beginner‘s list of beautiful images... a dew kissed rose a morning sunrise a perfect wave an Autumn leaf a pretty shell a sparkling diamond a spiral galaxy a babbling brook a child's smiling face What else can you add to the list?
Reason #54 ―Why abort your child when you could bond with her and assist her mental, emotional and spiritual development instead?‖ Reason #55 Your unborn child can feel, taste, smell, hear and see
Touch
aby massage is becoming a popular tool
for bonding
and brain
development, but did you know that it begins in the womb? As the fetus grows she is surrounded, caressed and sometimes jostled by the walls of your uterus as you move around. As early as 6 weeks into your pregnancy — around the time you may be wondering about that missed period — your uterus is already creating gentle contractions. 637
These fake contractions prepare your body for birth, but they also stimulate your baby‘s nervous system to help it start working properly. 638 However, you won‘t notice any contractions until later on, much closer to birth. It‘s been shown that when an 8.5 week old embryo is touched on the side of her mouth with a fine hair, she will turn her head in the opposite direction and open her mouth. 639
After birth, when you touch a newborn on the side of her mouth, she will also turn her head and open her mouth for B
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feeding — this time in the correct direction, towards you. 640
Although it seems the embryo was still developing the brain connections about which side to turn to, how amazing to see this behavior at such an early age when most people are still being told their pregnancy is merely ‗tissue‘. (This date is probably a lot sooner, as at 12½ weeks a slightly different experiment showed the fetus turning to the same side.) 641 It‘s hard to believe that she is less than 1 inch long at this stage! Life is truly a miracle. MedicineNet.com publishes health articles written by qualified medical doctors. One of their articles, ―What‘s it like in the womb?‖ explains, ―Your baby's sense of touch begins to develop early in pregnancy as it explores the uterine wall, umbilical cord and even its own body parts, spending the most time touching its face.‖ 642
To find out about pain sensitivity, turn to Reason #53: The fetus can feel pain .
Did you know? Babies are practicing movement long before they are born.
Movement also involves a sense of touch, so let‘s talk about that also. As with learning anything new, moving is no exception. Early movements are generally uncoordinated and instinctual. At first the embryo makes the smallest of movements from 7½ weeks. 643 An older embryo at only 8½ weeks will move his arm and shoulder and flex his back to push away a fine hair that touches his cheek. 644
Listen to this — it has to be one of the most amazing things I‘ve seen yet: at 11 and 12 weeks the fetus starts preparing to walk — well, alright, sort of. Three and four dimensional scans show him practicing what is called the stepping reflex, also seen in newborns. When he stretches out his foot it touches the side of the uterus and the nerve cells in his leg signal to contract. He pushes back and because he is still so small and in such a buoyant water environment he quite literally bounces off your walls! 645 It‘s not certain what the purpose of this movement is, but it does help him move in the womb and press himself out at birth. 646
Perhaps it also develops the memory of walking as a survival skill, so that when he is ready he will know what to do. 647
early movements? The uterus, like all internal organs, is not sensitive to touch. 648
feel that first movement? It‘s actually the nerves outside of your uterus, in your abdominal wall, i.e., your belly, that pick up that movement. You won‘t feel your
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baby until he is bigger and stronger, around 18-20 weeks in a first-time pregnancy. 649
The Expert Speaks ―By fifteen weeks, sixteen distinct movement patterns occur with varying regularity: just discernible movements; startle; general movements involving the whole body; hiccupping; breathing; isolated arm or leg movements; isolated movements of the head backward, to the side and forward; jaw movements; sucking and swallowing; hand-to-face Yüklə 4,63 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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