can emotional feelings pass through to the unborn child?

[helsi]

sorry all but this links to my post on the depressed thread.

My dad has got it into his head that the worry and upset etc I am feeling about him ATM will pass through to my unborn child and that s/he will suffer in the womb as a result. Is he right?

[helsi]

anyone?

[gothicmama]

babies pick up on stress and the chemicals released by the brian so it is possible. So you really need to protect yourself from stress adn upset or try to minimise it. hard I know I have avoided situations this prg because of the stress

[TuttiFrutti]

This is a really interesting question and I'm sure gothicmama is right. Just thinking about the people I know who were really stressed when pg, those children have turned out more nervous/shy/stressed themselves. Of course that's hardly a scientific survey, but it suggests that some of the stress has transferred to the unborn child.

Sorry Helsi, I haven't seen your threads on depression. I have been depressed myself and know how horrible it can be.

[helsi]

thanks at least I kinow he has a point but i can't avoid the stress I have ATM

[gothicmama]

is there a way you can minimise it or find a better way of dealing with the stress sorry I haven't read your other posts. Perhaps a gentle walk when you feel stressed

[blueteddy]

Oh no - I hope not. I had terrible depression throughout my pregnancy with DS2 & would hate to think any of it was transferred to him.
Mind you atm,(he is nearly 3) he is a lively, strong minded, happy little boy.

[Loobie]

Ok big speil here igo!!
When i was og with dd i had just been given a dx of autism for ds1 about 6 weeks before hand,my dd was extremely unplanned to the stage that my partner and i were separating,he was moving out the weekend i took the +test!!So we decided to stay together see if we could salvage something,unfortunately it was not to be he got increasingly worse,ds1 started experiencing huge problems at school,he had to undergo many appoitnments with different specialists all while i was pg with dd.Any ways my partner and i split when i was 5 mths pg with dd.WEnt on to have healthy pg and delivery.
dd was never a settled baby,managed to sleep well at night but was terrible during the day,tetchy,irritable very sicky,not sleeping.
Once i had had 9 weeks of this i took dd to a chiropractor thinking ok something to do with delivery,was very fast(midwife had no time to even get gloves on),cord round neck twice, strangling herself on the way out.She worked on dd both physically and emotionally,she told me loads about dd and her dad,how he didnt want her,she was feeling rejected by him and having to earn his love instead of just be given it as a child should.Loads of other stuff with him too,but the biggy for me was when she ran over dd with her hands and asked me what had happened when dd was 5mths in utero? I told her that was when P and i split.
So i guess my answer to your question would be a big huge yes and a lot more than we think they do!!

[nulnulcat]

i agree with blue teddy i dont think it has any effect i had a really bad pregnancy loads of problems with dd father he was pressuring me to have a termination spent most of pregnancy crying blood pressure problems pre eclampsia the lot eventually split up with him when 8 1/2 months pregnant and no family near by and dd is 2 and the happiest livliest contented child and every one says so she is always singing and laughing and smiles all the time she is crap at sleeping and has health problems but i dont believe that has anything to do with being stressed when pregnant

[bonkerz]

helsi, i havent read your threads so dont know you situation BUT i will tell you what i have learnt recently.
In October i was 27 weeks pregnant and my mother died suddenly. I was convinced that my emotional state would have a terrible effect on my unborn child and therfore i pushed all my feelings about my mothers death to the side. I didnt allow myself to grieve and was constantly stopping myself from crying and getting stressed etc. All this had a very negative affect on me and when i finally gave birth in dec i became very depressed. I started to attend therepy where i learnt that an unborn baby is actually MORE affected if you hold back on emotions and that if you are keeping emotions in then the baby will actually move and kick more than if you let yourself express you feelings freely. Not sure if this will help BUT i will just say that oyur baby is very perceptive already and will feel everything you feel, i really dont think that how you feel can have a negative effect on your baby. My DD is now 10 weeks old and fine!

[slinkstah]

i saw something about this on tv last year. it measured the pregnant mums involved in sep 11th and then tested their kids for the stress hormones. it was shown that the kids had more stress hormones than a normal kid of same age. I think there is not much other research into it though.

[meggmoo]

This is something I have often wondered. I had such a dreadful time emotionally.
My ds although fab is very shy and highly strung child at times

I do however know of women who had it much worse and still ended up with really chilled out children who had no problems whatsoever.

[Flossam]

I was pretty miserable and at times stressed while pregnant. Ok DS is only 16 months atm. But he generally seems to me a happy, friendly outgoing little boy. I hope he continues to be that way.

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

Was very stressed through a large part of my second pg and DS is certainly a highly strung little chap. I have heard that this can be the case but i havent read much about it.

[spub]

Helsi - Dunno much about all of this but it does seem like you already have a lot going on so please don't worry unduly or give yourself any more of a hard time than you need to! Easier said than done, I know but please look after yourself.

[Pinchypants]

Hi Helsi,
It's probably true that babies do pick up on negative emotions and prolonged, intense stress (expressed or supressed) while they are floating about in their little bubble - they get a mini dose of all the chemicals that go through our bodies, after all. But it's not the end of the world, Helsi, and certainly won't actually lead to suffering, and you don't need anything else to worry about right now.

You might feel less anxious about this if you put a few minutes aside every day to send/speak happy thoughts and reassurance and loving things to your baby, perhaps last thing at night. Might help calm you as well as helping you feel you are doing something to offset this unavoidable stress with your dad.

And if you are still concerned after nipper comes along, and you're into this stuff, chiropractors and kinesiologists and various other slightly less mainstream complementary practitioners might help to resolve emotional stuff that happened in utero. I saw a kinesiologist a couple of years ago about something completely unrelated, and she announced that one of the intense emotional things she was picking up from me stemmed back to when my mum was 4 months pg - I spoke to my mum and it turns out she was extremely anxious and feeling guilty because she was pg before her older sister who had been trying for years, and the reaction from my aunt was not good at all. Whether you believe that stuff or not, and I admit it can get a bit weird at times, you might find it reassuring that there is something to try later on.

Take care of yourself and grab every chance to get a few minutes of sunshine on your face - it does wonders for releasing happy chemicals in your bod!

Good luck with everything
Pinchy xxx

[saadia]

When I was pg I read a lot but tried to read uplifting optimistic book and instinctively avoided anything vaguely disturbing or depressing. You just want to send the baby happy vibes and even if you are having problems, as pinchypants said, you may be able to counter this with a relaxation time when you talk/sing to and comfort the baby. Try to focus on positives as much as you can and enjoy the little things.

I haven't read your other thread so I may be completely off the ball here.

[thebecster]

I don't know about this but I've read that it's actually a good thing for unborn baby to be exposed to some stress hormones at some point in the pregancy. OTherwise during the birth when your body is flooded with stress hormones the baby has never met them before & will be more sensitive and react to them more. I found this really reassuring because it's impossible to live in a stress-free bubble for 9 months... But I do try to send my baby 'happy thoughts' and I tell him that his mummy loves him all the time (have done since I was 5 wks, and I'm 27 wks now).