RESINSITE

When you’re pregnant, you may find that stress can be at a higher level. Your body is changing, you’re gaining weight, you’re getting advice from everybody you know and that’s not even mentioning the preparations you’re making for the baby when it arrives. Taking some time to relieve stress through mind/body techniques may be very helpful in ensuring your health as well as that of the baby. A healthy mind and body may go a long way towards making the experience as pleasant as possible, and well it should be.

There are several programs at various clinics that offer exercises and counseling as far as how to reduce stress and eliminate everyday stressors. Many may offer acupuncture, which involves the insertion of thin, sterile needles into certain points on the body. Practitioners believe that a life energy that flows through the body may become blocked due to stress, trauma, poor diet, lack of exercise, etc. Releasing it may help to alleviate various symptoms including stress. Acupuncture may also be used during the first trimester to help reduce the risk of miscarriage. Be sure to inform the practitioner that you are pregnant before treatment.

Others may turn to types of yoga such as restorative. Be careful which type of yoga you choose, as some forms may not be healthy during pregnancy. One example is hot yoga, which involves performing the exercises and poses in a very hot room. Restorative yoga uses props such as pillows, blankets, walls, blocks, chairs, etc. to help the body assume certain poses without exerting energy. Like with acupuncture, be sure to inform the instructor that you are pregnant before beginning.

Still, other programs may offer counseling to educate the patient as far as reducing stress in one’s life and how to deal with stressors that are difficult to eliminate. Programs may offer relaxation strategies and stress management skills. They may offer advice concerning changing lifestyle habits that may negatively affect fertility or pregnancy, and may help instruct patients how to reframe negative thought patterns as positive ones. Simply chatting with others going through something similar to you may be therapeutic as well. In this way you can blow off steam, share and receive advice about how to deal with certain unpleasant experiences during pregnancy and support from others.

Each mind/body program may teach different types of stress reduction techniques, but the goal of all of them is the same: to help you achieve a healthy pregnancy both mentally and physically.