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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think my midwife is being slightly ridiculous over bonding with my unborn baby?

155 replies

GotSomethinCookin · 14/06/2024 22:18

Please be gentle as I had a loss before this pregnancy. I’m therefore finding it hard to trust that I’ll be bringing a baby home this time and don’t really dare think about her much.

My midwife has said this needs to change now. Baby’s neural pathways are being laid down and so it’s important that I start bonding so that she feels loved and secure.

AIBU to think that sounds a bit mad? How even do you make an unborn baby feel loved and secure? She’s not going to realise she’s a separate person from me until she’s at least six months old, let alone have any concept in utero of whether I love her.

Sure, I can talk to her. Yet I talk throughout the day to lots of different people. She’s not going to know I’m talking specifically to her, is she? Even if I address her as ‘Baby.’ Or is she?

I’m realising I don’t even know what it means to ‘connect with your unborn baby.’ What exactly do I have to do in practical terms to achieve that? Lie still and just focus on her? Attempt to transmit positive thoughts to her? Yet surely if she’s getting any of my thoughts she gets them all indiscriminately whether I’m intentionally focusing on her or not. Is there actually any hard evidence for any of this? Am I really in danger of damaging her now?

OP posts:
sparkleowl · 15/06/2024 13:28

Shouldbeworkingnotreadingtalk · 14/06/2024 22:25

Maybe she is gently trying to get you to bond with the baby for YOU - not the baby, but she is saying that to be polite / not offend you ? (Maybe because of your previous loss you are understandably holding back) .. or she is batshit.

I was thinking along the same lines, maybe she’s encouraging you to believe all will be fine this time around, which am sure it will be.A lot of women including me had a previous, first loss but the next pregnancy went well.I understand how you feel. IMO though she’s overdoing it or is batshit😁Maybe that’s what midwives are told to say these days?

jessicalovejoy · 15/06/2024 13:35

If you don’t mind me asking, how far along are you?
I think it is common to feel like you do, especially in your circumstances, as you process and get used to the idea of being pregnant and prepare for having a baby.
I hadn’t had any previous losses but I had severe anxiety in pregnancy and for months, I refused to get excited or plan too much ahead for fear that something might go wrong.
At the time I didn’t acknowledge it was anxiety, I thought it was rational.
But, once my baby started to move, I started to feel different. I wish I could say the anxiety got better but it didn’t, it just shifted focus (and I really wish I had asked for help and been honest about how I felt looking back but I didn’t).
However, I started to think of the pregnancy as a an actual baby, little by little.
don’t think I ever really talked out loud to my bump, but I would pat it and rub it.
I finally went into a shop one day and bought a couple of baby things and put them away, then a few more and more.
I started thinking about names.
I noticed patterns like she didn’t move much in the mornings, I reckon she was asleep, but once I got to work and started talking she would kick like crazy.
I suppose I started naturally bonding with her and that made it so much easier when she was born because the anxiety that was already so bad and i had been hoping would go away once I had my baby safe in my arms, well it got much, much worse and I got extremely depressed too.
That can happen when all the hormones suddenly drop and you’re sleep deprived and overwhelmed with caring for a newborn.
I feel like the one thing that really saved me was the fact that I had already started to bond with my baby because that gave me the strength I needed to get through it.
The reason I say this to you is because, I think if you haven’t started to feel the beginnings of a bond with your baby at all as you get near to your due date, I think that could be a sign of problem anxiety or depression and I would strongly urge you to seek help before you actually have your baby. I really wish I had.
I think it’s natural to sort of distance yourself mentally in order to protect yourself from hurt but unfortunately it can then become very hard to get out of that mindset. I don’t know about neural pathways etc, it sounds like the type of thing people come out with about perinatal mental health which although well meaning actually makes you feel worse. You can’t control how you think or feel, telling you if you don’t feel a certain way you’re damaging your baby’s development is not helpful, it just makes you feel more guilt and shame. And I don’t think you need to actively do anything like talk to your bump if u don’t feel like it, but if your feelings don’t change as the pregnancy progresses, it might be a good idea to consider whether it could be anxiety and look at accessing help with that x

Catopia · 15/06/2024 14:07

It is absolutely understandable to be anxious and be scared to become attached given your experiences. Even without having loss, I was still anxious about becoming attached in early pregnancy. However, once I was out of the riskiest period I have relaxed and bonded. I don't talk to them all the time, but I will tell them it's time for us to go to bed or that we're going for a run, ask them if they're having fun when I can feel them moving a lot, or tell them they're coming to an important work meeting with me today so that they can learn how to win arguments against Daddy...

The midwife isn't talking complete nonsense, but is overstating it somewhat. There is some scientific evidence that bonding in pregnancy can impact on long term mental health for both you and baby, and on neural developmental outcomes for baby post-birth. Just as stress and cortisol can impact negatively on the environmental conditions for baby, love, connection, and attachment results in a neuroendocrinological cascade that as well as assisting with bonding, also promotes wellbeing and reduces anxiety. Think of it like hugging someone you care about - it creates that release of hormones that makes us feel good and happier in general, not just more connected to that person. You can be fine without that, but those interactions make us feel good and warm and fuzzy. However, baby also cannot hear you until about 16 weeks - at which point the neural pathways are formed. It's not impacting on that side of development in the way she has implied.

However, the crux of it is that notwithstanding that, your midwife is being unreasonable to expect you to just be able to switch on those feelings if you are still feeling very anxious about becoming attached, and are emotionally protecting yourself from the risk of greater further heartache, which is absolutely understandable and natural. She should be focusing on reassuring you, rather than admonishing you for how you are feeling, and the impact of what she is doing is just going to lead you to not talk to her about this stuff, which is literally part of her job. If she continues to be unsympathetic, consider asking for a change of midwife.

It may be that once you've got through some (more) scans, tests etc and have some scientific reassurance that little one is doing ok in there that your anxiety will settle a little and you will be able to relax into the later stages of pregnancy. If you continue to feel very anxious, it may be worth considering whether a referral to perinatal services, or speaking to a counsellor, even if just for a session or two, may help you to feel more supported. If it's an option, it's also important to speak to your partner or loved ones about how you are feeling.

And of course as others say, baby can also hear you talking to others and going about your day once they can hear. Whether those have the same impact depends on the types of conversations you usually have: lots of fraught and stressy work conversations with difficult clients, or an environment with verbal abuse or domestic abuse isn't going to be the same as baby hearing lots of soft, kind, gentle and loving conversations between you and your loved ones, or hearing you sing along happily to the radio in the car or the shower or while you're cooking.

Ultimately, if you have the conversations and do the things that make you happy and reduce your stress, baby will benefit from that, so try and prioritize those things: be it exercise or yoga, or having a kitchen dance party to Taylor Swift, those things will help both of you be happier and healthier long term.

I wish you and little one all the best.

TheFirstFloorFlat · 15/06/2024 15:04

I haven’t read the full thread as the first two pages seemed to be comments along a similar line, so apologies if I’m repeating. I think it may depend a bit on where you live as to what advice you’re given. For example, Medway NHS currently has a campaign called ‘grow my brain’ which sounds like it incorporates similar advice to what your midwife has told you. The scientific evidence behind it is around reducing the release of cortisol by creating a safe environment for your unborn baby. It may possibly be more applicable for situations where there is a lot of shouting or maybe DV in the household, but I guess they have to give the advice to everyone.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I spoke and sang to my now toddler all the time when I was pregnant, and DH did the same, but with my current pregnancy I’ve had days where I haven't even thought about being pregnant (less now as I’m roughly the size of a small elephant). I don’t think number 2 will be any less developed or loved and I’m sure we’ll bond fine once they're here.

GotSomethinCookin · 16/06/2024 20:04

Thanks everyone for your replies. Seems I really don’t have anything to worry about here. For those who asked, I am only 16 weeks pregnant so still quite a way to go. Much love to all those who have also experienced loss or otherwise had difficult journeys.

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