Today we will talk about a common problem in pregnant women - these are mood swings associated with various reasons. Pregnant for many people personifies the very calmness, kindness and beauty.
Of course, if pregnancy is desired and long-awaited, then the expectant mother can flutter from positive emotions in anticipation of the child, but not always.
Causes of Mood Swings in Pregnant Women
Often a woman in a position notices a sharp change in mood, so unusual for her before pregnancy. She can be irritable, whiny, harmful and hysterical, but literally in a moment she jokes, laughs and smiles.
The reasons that affect the mood of a pregnant woman can be:
- doubts, fears and questions hovering in the beautiful head of the expectant mother, for example, will she be a good mother, what to do with work, will there be enough money to provide the child with a good upbringing, etc .;
- increased levels of progesterone and estrogen hormones in the body of the expectant mother;
- ailments in the form of heartburn, headaches, excess, nausea or loss of consciousness;
- discomfort associated with pregnancy - frequent urination, pain in the lower abdomen, insomnia, a limited number of postures during sleep, baby jerks;
- fatigue. As a rule, until the 30th week of pregnancy, the expectant mother continues to work, meet with friends, and lack sleep;
- appearance and lifestyle, which change dramatically - especially at 7-9 months of pregnancy.
Tips for a mom-to-be to avoid mood problems
So that excessive emotionality does not ruin the relationship of the future mother with her chosen one, relatives and friends, a woman is recommended:
- walk more often in the fresh air, from one and a half hours a day and better with her husband;
- relax;
- exclude all diets, give preference to full-fledged with fruits, vegetables, cereals and, of course, pamper yourself with ice cream or marshmallows;
- avoid stressful situations;
- get to know other pregnant women - on the forum or in the antenatal clinic and share your emotions, feelings and experiences with each other;
- go shopping - buy something for yourself, your beloved, or start buying things for your child;
- attend courses for pregnant women - to learn a lot of new things and, perhaps, some fears will be dispelled;
- do yoga, or Pilates - for new sensations and uplifting;
- to do the arrangement of the children's room - choose a crib, accessories, bedding or a chest of drawers.
If a woman during pregnancy cannot cope with her emotions and psychological state on her own, then you can turn to a psychologist for help or take, in agreement with the attending physician, light medications without harm to the baby's health, which helped to avoid mood swings in the pregnant woman.
The positive atmosphere around a pregnant woman has a positive effect on her mood. Close people can only calmly and without nerves perceive the strangeness of the expectant mother, morally supporting her in any situations.
A woman in position and the people around her should understand that whims will go away with pregnancy. The usual figure, the rhythm of life, sleep will return to their usual course, but only with a new small member of the family, and only bright happy memories will remain about nine months of bearing a child.
Mood swings in pregnant women should always be tolerated calmly, both by the expectant mother herself and her relatives.
Dear blog readers, have you had mood swings during pregnancy, and how you avoided them, leave comments or reviews. Someone will find it very useful!
In our life, there are always enough reasons for worry, and even during pregnancy, these reasons become much more. There is even a scientific explanation for this. Throughout pregnancy, the hormonal background of a woman undergoes hormonal changes - and this is a significant restructuring for the whole body, both in physical and psychological aspects. That is why a pregnant woman has increased tearfulness, nervousness and irritability. Women often transfer their physical changes to a psychological state, and therefore take everything that happens around them to heart and are subject to frequent mood changes.
Let's try to figure out why it is harmful bad mood during pregnancy and in no case should you be nervous.
During pregnancy, the mother and her unborn child are one whole, they are one organism, a single whole. These are not just words, this is a fact - after all, the mother and the child have one more circulatory system for two, and all the substances that the mother consumes enter the fetus through the blood.
If a woman is worried or stressed during pregnancy, her adrenal glands produce the anxiety or stress hormone catecholamine. And these hormones not only enter the child's circulatory system, but also accumulate in it, since the fetus has not yet developed a recurrent venous network.
In the second half of pregnancy, the fetus already has a partially developed nervous system and is able to get nervous. And he gets nervous when his mother does it. If the future experienced bad mood during pregnancy, then during labor, amniotic fluid is a continuous concentration of these stress hormones. Children who are nervous with their mother, being in her stomach, are more mobile, impressionable and nervous than those whose intrauterine development was calm. Stress during pregnancy leads to the fact that newborn children who have experienced stress together with their mother are more excitable and capricious, often do not sleep well.
But of course it is impossible during the entire pregnancy to remain absolutely calm and not experience the slightest negative feeling. Scientists say that being a little nervous is perfectly acceptable, but only a little. The hormone cortisol, which is produced during psycho-emotional changes, in small quantities will not harm the fetus, and in excessive doses it inhibits the development of the fetus.
So, future mothers, you realized that you do not need to scold yourself for being a little worried during pregnancy, but in no case bring yourself to nervousness, hysterics and serious stress.
Let's try to cheer you up! Yes, it is possible! And the products will help us with you. And we are not talking about coffee and chocolate, but about products that will take care of your nervous system. Vitamins of group B contribute to its strengthening. These are all protein products of animal origin, dark green vegetables, fish, nuts, dairy products. Stress is afraid of manganese and vitamin C, and these are green and red vegetables, berries and dried fruits.
Healthy and proper nutrition- This is one of the options for coping with a bad mood during pregnancy. The second option is to avoid situations and people that can negatively affect you. Chat with nice and loved people. Go to visit more often and invite guests to your place. And don't let yourself get bored - it can make you depressed and dull. Walk more often, read useful magazines, sign up for. Right now you have time to do what you didn’t have time for before. Get creative: draw, sew, knit, embroider, photograph. Now is the time to surrender to beautiful dreams and think only of good things!
It's not a secret for anyone that the inner attitude significantly affects the quality of life. In a good mood, all problems quickly find their solution, and you don't even pay attention to many troubles. But as soon as the mood deteriorates, life immediately seems gray and bleak. And if there is such a dependence of thoughts, behavior and perception of the world on mood, then it can be used in the opposite direction, performing certain actions to control your own emotions. This does not mean at all that you need to forbid yourself to feel and worry, putting on a "stone mask": this method just becomes a direct road to various psychological and psychosomatic problems. But you can learn to “turn” negative emotions into neutral or positive ones, to reduce their “degree”. The main thing is to stop feeling sorry for yourself and start acting!
Method number 1. Mimic gymnastics helps to manage emotions
In psychology, it is believed that the human body, his thoughts and feelings are interconnected, therefore it is possible to manage emotions with the help of one's own thoughts and bodily manifestations.
The easiest way, albeit a long training session, is to smile and maintain a smile on your face for a few minutes despite your depressed mood. Mimicry of joy sends a signal of well-being to the brain, and it rearranges the work of consciousness in a positive way. Regular use of such mimic gymnastics will help the psyche spend less and less time on restructuring. Especially if you supplement these exercises with mental suggestion: "Everything will be fine!", "Everything will work out," "I am the happiest!" etc.
Regular training in mimic exercises of joy and auto-training allows you to start the process of transforming negative emotions and make mood management a habit.
Method number 2. The rule "here and now" will help to be in the present tense
Often the mood of a pregnant woman begins to change when she envisions the future or remembers past troubles. It's time to say "stop" to yourself and not inflate the elephant out of a fly.
Try to instill in yourself the idea that the past no longer matters, and the future will come later, so now it is better to think about the present moment, banishing fears and replacing them by focusing on the positive aspects of your pregnancy (for example, a recent visit to the doctor showed that weight gain is normal , or according to the results of ultrasound, the child is developing correctly).
And also return yourself to the reality of the present moment, switching from thoughts to feelings. As soon as you start to notice that the mood is spoiling, listen to yourself and your baby. Try to determine how the child turned in his stomach, where he pushed you, try to feel the little finger on the left foot, etc. Ask yourself the question: “What do I hear now?”, “What colors surround me?”, “Is the wind blowing? " Such sensations allow you to feel “here and now” and return harmony to the emotional sphere.
Method number 3. "Safe place"
Often, a bad mood during pregnancy occurs as a reaction to stress, fatigue, anxiety, and all these manifestations may not even be realized. And a bad mood in this case is a signal to take a break and just relax, calm down or get some sleep.
This will help to create a so-called "safe place" for yourself, with which serenity and positive emotions will be associated. For some, the ideal place to relax is a home bed with a subtle scent of fresh linen, while others feel good under a blanket by the window with a hot cup of tea and a favorite book. Someone is as comfortable as possible in a proven spa, and for many, the image of a safe place goes back to childhood: parental apartment, summer cottage ...
The main thing is that you feel comfortable there, and you could easily get there if necessary. Such a place will serve you as a kind of "anchor" of security, positive emotions and help to get rid of negativity.
Method number 4. Communication with pregnant women: looking for allies
.jpg)
If talking about pregnancy is more annoying than smiling, think about your interests. A discussion book club, a page for discussing the best culinary recipes, a forum for travelers ... Sometimes half an hour a day is enough for communication in a circle of like-minded people for life to take on colors again.
Method number 5. Plan of measures for maternity leave
Often on maternity leave, the general background of the mood is lowered for no apparent reason. This is due to boredom and monotony, especially if before pregnancy the woman led a rather active lifestyle or was busy at work. Now, when there are no urgent matters on the horizon, it becomes somehow uncomfortable.
In this case, a simple list of activities for the day will help. As soon as you feel that your mood is getting worse, arm yourself with a piece of paper and a pen, as well as posters with a schedule of events for the near future. Sometimes we do not even notice how many interesting things are happening around, we forget about what we have been planning to do for a long time and what we wanted to learn.
But it is the time spent productively that gives a feeling of satisfaction. So start planning by adding a variety of activities to your personal list. For example, morning yoga for pregnant women, a walk to a distant square to explore a place where you can walk with a stroller, visit a flower show, in the evening a scrapbooking webinar, etc.
You can make such a plan every day or schedule the desired activities and activities for the week. In any case, one glance at the impressive list of interesting events will be enough to cheer you up.
Method number 6. Color therapy for pregnant women
The information received from sensory receptors is able to shape certain emotions during pregnancy. Therefore, during pregnancy, it is important to surround yourself with pleasant pictures, sounds, smells and even fabrics! One of the simplest but most effective techniques to help regulate mood - color therapy - is based on the effects of different shades on the human psyche.
Bring bright colors to your home and workplace (of course, if these are the colors you like), change the curtains, buy a new table lamp ... Finally, make sure that there are always flowering indoor plants or beautiful bouquets in a vase in your home. Get a new scarf or handbag in an interesting color to match the spring mood. The dullness and monotony of shades provoke bouts of melancholy during pregnancy. But the red color fills with energy, positive emotions, the desire to move and create, you just need not to overdo it with its amount. Yellow cheers up, gives spiritual lightness; green - relieves nervous tension, relieves irritation and fatigue. With blue, it is also important to know when to stop, because it causes a feeling of peace, inspires, but at the same time can cause "philosophical" sadness. Very tones orange, and blue pacifies.
Method number 7. Anticipation of pleasures during pregnancy
A wonderful feeling, so familiar to us in childhood, but often disappearing in adulthood, is anticipation. It can fill any day with joy, because the expectation of pleasure is often brighter and more joyful than the pleasure itself.
Pampering in the form of an unplanned purchase, a cake or an old favorite movie, of course, cheers up, but the effect can be enhanced if you deliberately delay the receipt of these "bonuses". For example, leave a cake in the fridge and promise yourself to eat it after work, or not finish reading a fascinating book in the evening, leaving the most interesting until the next day. By signing up in advance for a photo session with a good photographer, you can mark the day of filming on a wall calendar and rejoice at his approach, imagining how the photos will turn out.
There are many options for creating such "expectation of a miracle" in oneself, it is important to find a golden mean in the time of delaying pleasure, so that the process of waiting does not drag on for too long and the feeling of anticipation does not disappear.
Method number 8. "Book of Happiness" for expectant mothers
Unfortunately, we often fixate on negative moments in our life, notice minor troubles, and take something positive for granted and do not keep our attention on it. And then it turns out: "What fun if nothing good happened?"
To change this stereotype will help the "Book of Happiness", which can be made from an ordinary notebook or notebook. Its meaning is to write down 5-10 joyful events that happened to you every day. For example, the baby pushed, the husband came home from work early, his favorite biscuits were brought to the store, etc. It would seem that these are some little things, but our life consists of them. At first, it will not be easy to type in the required number of entries, but after a few days you will realize that there are many more than 5-10. And having learned to notice these positive moments, you will begin to truly rejoice at them, and then there will simply be no reason for a bad mood, because the Book of Happiness will always be at hand.
Method number 9. There is always a place for good deeds in life.
Sometimes, in order to improve your mood during pregnancy, you need to shift your focus from yourself to those around you. There are many living beings in the world in need of this or that help, and you can provide it.
Surely there are orphanages, nursing homes or animal shelters near you. There are also various charitable foundations and organizations. And among your acquaintances there may be those who really need support. Try to do a selfless good deed and bring joy to another. Visit a lonely retired neighbor, go through your books or clothes, and take some of them to the orphanage. Let goodness into your heart, and you will see that the world is changing along with your mood.
Method number 10. Bad mood arises in thoughts, but is afraid of action
Perhaps you have some ideas that you would like to implement, but do not yet have sufficient opportunities for this. It is important that these plans are truly desirable, and the thoughts of them are pleasant.
It can be a dream about your own home, about a trip to the sea after the birth of a baby, about organizing a wedding anniversary ... Realizing that you are out of sorts, take a comfortable position, close your eyes and mentally, in detail, imagine your dream. Take your time, try to think through everything in detail, to the smallest detail, until you feel a pleasant inspiration. If it is difficult to draw pictures in your imagination, and your thoughts get confused, you can use the tools at hand and make sketches. It's good if you can dream out loud with your husband. Such a conversation not only cheers up, but also brings the spouses closer together with a joint idea. The dream makes it possible to understand: no matter what kind of trouble happens, there is something good ahead, which is what we should strive for.
Bad moods arise in thoughts, but are afraid of action. So it's time to take matters into your own hands and not let your emotions ruin your day, holiday, or your entire pregnancy. After all, time flies by very quickly, and you need to use it as much as possible.
Sadness, where did you come from?
Tears, irritation, resentment over trifles - it would seem that all this can be attributed to the usual vagaries of pregnancy, but every moment of mood decline has its own rationale:
- Hormonal changes in the body. Physiological "charms" of pregnancy are a common reason for the unstable emotional background of the expectant mother. She gets tired and unwell faster.
- Psychological changes. Uncertainty in one's own strengths, anxiety for the future, a sense of impending changes ... Everything associated with an "interesting situation" can either please or frighten the expectant mother, provoking instability of mental equilibrium.
- Small and big troubles. It happens that the surrounding people also add fuel to the fire, not taking into account that a sensitive pregnant woman does not need so much to spoil her mood. What can we say about life circumstances that are really the reason for the disorder?
- Prolonged adaptation to pregnancy. It also happens that a woman feels good, and does not suffer from increased anxiety, and there are no troubles, but her mood is still at zero. The reason in this case may be long-term adaptation to your new status, nostalgia for the old, pre-pregnant times, or high expectations from the very period of pregnancy.
It would seem that there is nothing wrong with allowing yourself to be sad sometimes. But if periods of bad mood drag on or “cover” with unenviable regularity, it becomes simply necessary to raise it. Moreover, this applies to both pregnant women and others.
From a medical point of view, they are responsible for serious hormonal changes in the whole body, which begins in the first trimester. Think about it: in the first weeks, the indicators increase several times! Emotional "swing" in this state is inevitable.
From a psychological point of view, mood swings at the very beginning of the birth of a new life are due to the fact that the expectant mother is going through a serious process of self-identification, realizing herself in a new status, and is on the verge of radical changes in life. Hence the ambivalent attitude towards what is happening: on the one hand, women feel very vulnerable and weak, therefore they require global attention and even overprotection from others. And on the other hand, a sense of responsibility for the future child and a sense of their own importance are growing. It has been noticed that even very infantile girls often seem to “grow up overnight” when they find out about their situation.
II trimester
This is usually the most emotionally stable period. The hormonal storm more or less subsides, it is over, the baby begins to move, and the expectant mother can use this to determine if everything is all right. A period of relative calm ensues.
III trimester
In the third trimester, the storm may break out again. Why? There are several reasons for this, one of the most common is physiological. begins to put pressure on the internal organs, and this causes discomfort. Often women at a later date experience sleep problems, they develop edema, late toxicosis and other unpleasant symptoms. In addition, the expectant mother begins to worry about how the birth will go, and this fear also does not add to her positive attitude.
At the beginning of pregnancy, do not listen to the stories of "experienced" friends about what pathologies are in babies, how difficult it is to bear a fetus, and the like. Set yourself up for the fact that everything will be all right for you. And in the third trimester, do not read "horror stories" on the Internet about childbirth with complications. I assure you: the percentage of easy births is incomparably higher. It's just that few people write about it.
Lyubov Timchenko
What determines the change of mood?
Is it possible to predict how a woman will behave during pregnancy? Medical practitioners say it rarely succeeds. There are, perhaps, only two more or less working signs. First, if you experience mood swings before your period, be prepared for similar symptoms during pregnancy. And besides, many character traits of pregnant women are exacerbated: for example, if you are sentimental, then you will surely shed tears over each plucked flower while waiting for the baby.
Or are mood swings in pregnant women just a tactic? We have all heard many anecdotes about how ladies in an interesting position make the whole world revolve around them. Some men seriously think that this is just a gimmick in order to attract all possible attention. But modern medicine has long proven that frequent mood swings during pregnancy are caused by really objective reasons.
Most often, I encounter violent mood swings when pregnancy comes suddenly. Therefore, the most important advice to you, girls: plan your life, plan your family and learn to protect yourself. Every child should be wanted. Those of my patients, whose child did not become a "surprise", the emotional background is much more stable. In addition, explain to your loved ones, and first of all to the father of the unborn child, that all your cries and tears are not at all a manifestation of the fact that you have become worse to treat them. Tell us about the hormonal background - many do not even know about this aspect. If they don’t believe it, come to the appointment together.
Lyubov Timchenko
obstetrician-gynecologist with 35 years of experience
A storm of emotions is wonderful
Everyone knows that it is extremely harmful - this is an axiom that does not seem to be questioned. Some women even develop strong feelings of guilt if they cannot control their emotions as confidently as in their “pre-pregnant” life. But, at the same time, the symbiosis of the embryo and the mother is very harmonious, the woman and her unborn child continuously communicate, complement and influence each other. There is a theory that the mother's outbursts of emotions are also useful for the baby: thereby she prepares the future baby for the fact that there is a place in life for a variety of feelings, and not only joyful ones. The main thing is not to accumulate anger and irritation, allow yourself to express them, and move on.
Here is what one young mother wrote on her blog: “Mood swings and the baby inside are also very necessary. So he sees what life means - which is sometimes sad, but this is not the end: mom takes it and copes with it. A prerequisite for coping is to admit that it is and allow yourself to express it. Denying the negative side of our emotions, we do not protect the baby: he sees that we are not coping. What is worth showing him - mom lives, rejoices, sad and sometimes irritated. This is exactly what a baby needs to see so that he is not afraid to be born. "
How to reduce the intensity of passions?
It is important to remember one more rule: what is manifested is not dangerous. It is better to honestly cry, honestly get angry when you feel like it, than to drive the irritation and resentment into the depths. Otherwise, the depressed state can turn into chronic depression.
And yet, if you realize that emotions are constantly overwhelming you, it is a good idea to slightly reduce the intensity of passions - if only because sudden mood swings exhaust your loved ones. In the arsenal of expectant mothers there are walks in the fresh air, calm music and meditation, yoga for pregnant women, weak motherwort tea (if there are no contraindications), and just pleasant communication with loved ones.
For every girl, being in a bad mood during pregnancy is a common thing. It seems that pregnancy should only evoke positive emotions, but things are not always the way we would like to. Bad mood appears for no apparent reason and at any time. Laughter for no reason, unexpected tears in their eyes, all this is familiar to pregnant women.
Increased emotionality
All these 9 months a woman will be accompanied by increased emotionality: irritability, tearfulness, resentment, vulnerability. You do not need to contact a specialist and solve the problem yourself. You just need to understand the reasons for such changes in the mood of a pregnant woman.
Psychological condition
Bad mood is the reason for the disturbance of the psychological state. Medicine explains this as follows: the endocrine system is under the influence of the nervous system, therefore hormones are released that are needed for the onset of pregnancy and for bearing a child. Many pregnant women take little rest, play sports, work, spend most of their time at the computer and rarely get enough sleep. All this does not reflect in the best way on the nervous system, which in turn leads to various problems.
Load on the body
You can leave a bad mood far behind if you follow the advice of doctors, in addition, it is necessary to reduce the psychological stress on the body. This should be done immediately when the woman found out about pregnancy. She needs to move more, spend a lot of time in the fresh air. A good rest is very useful for the health of the expectant mother. You need to sleep at least 8 hours a day and get enough sleep. Try to avoid stressful situations, not do a lot of sports, not dramatically lose weight, not go on diets.
Heavy adaptation
Constant mood swings are inextricably linked with changes in hormonal levels. Bad moods are most noticeable early in pregnancy. The body of a pregnant woman needs time to adapt to these changes. During this period, the woman feels constant irritability, fatigue, increased drowsiness. A bad mood is characteristic of pregnant women who have toxicosis.
Natural process
Soon the woman will feel that she will soon have a child. Pregnant women are prone to mood swings. Gradually, the woman develops a gradual addiction to the role of mother. It seems to her that no one understands her, that all the household are opposed to her.
Seek help from professionals, because for women during this period, professional help and psychological support are important. Talk to your husband about how your life will change with the birth of a child and take from your childhood only the best for raising a child.
With all of these tips, you can cope with a bad mood during pregnancy and thus prevent depression.
