Educated Pregnancy

If there is one overlooked, yet major factor that I can tell you is extremely harmful to your baby, it is maternal stress during pregnancy. Yes, drugs, alcohol and smoking are all horrible – but you already know that. You’ve heard it everywhere, and most pregnant women – at least most of you who are reading my blogs and following my videos – wouldn’t even consider such risky behavior when it comes to your baby’s health. But the stress part…that’s different.

Not many people, not even most midwives, are teaching women the importance of reducing their stress levels. Studies have shown that maternal stress on the fetus may lead to increased risk of ADD / ADHD. Why? Because of the hormones you produce in response to stressful situations. These hormones then affect the baby’s development and can potentially alter the chemicals and hormones in your baby’s developing brain. 

Look around you and you will notice that most living things have curves. Flowers, fruits, the head of a bird, the underside of a dog – all of these are curved. The belly of a pregnant woman is a large curve; the baby nestled in the womb is curled up in a curved position. And a newborn baby, so accustomed to being curled up in the mother’s womb for 9 months, tends to revert back to the curved position any chance he can.

As the baby grows, we’ve been taught to provide them with tummy time; essentially placing the baby face down so that he can use his little neck muscles to lift up his head and develop the curve in his neck – the cervical curve. As he starts to crawl, he pushes up on all fours and hunches his back, much like a cat does when stretching, which begins to develop the curve in his upper back – the thoracic curve. As a toddler, it’s easy to notice the pot belly stance as he struggles to find his balance and develop the curve in his lower back – the lumbar curve.