Pregnancy has the power to shape the body, but also the mind and emotions. The psychologist discusses anxiety in pregnancy, how to manage it and what to do in the most worrying cases

Anxiety in pregnancy

When a lady discovers she is pregnant, everything about her transforms and changes. Pregnancy has the great power of shape not only the body but also our mind, our thoughts and emotions. And not infrequently we visit meet a deep anxiety, to a very strong fear of not being able to live serenely such a powerful event and this anxiety often it can lead to depression and in important and sometimes destructive psycho-physical labors.

Why does anxiety arise during pregnancy?

Pregnancy brings out unresolved and dormant experiences in women concerning their femininity, the connection with their mother, our method of being and living. Everything comes out: the solved and the unsolved and this causes a great mixing of energies and emotions that lead us to be confused, to consider too much, to live in turmoil. The hormonal aspect also plays a large role in the onset of anxiety. Not to say the great maternal task that awaits us using its great amount of power but additionally of responsibility!

It is important to welcome all of the experience that is born in us, to be able to process and overcome: it is a great chance to finally be able to resolve still open questions of our life and therefore be able to evolve in our life path and improve ourselves. Only in this way can we face pregnancy and also the resulting childbirth as calmly as you possibly can.

How to manage anxiety?

To be able to keep various worries and fears related to this important phase of our life at bay it is important resort to some attitudes which it is good to take throughout the course of our existence but mainly in such important moments as the period of pregnancy:

• Surround yourself with people who are able to make us feel good and instead turn away people who put us under pressure and who increase our anxious state;
• Cast out negative thoughts. As soon as they arise, we must stop them. We would be the creators of our thinking and with a little daily practice we can accomplish this great operation. It is enough to be aware that a negative thought has been born in us which brings out an equally negative emotion. Once this is done we just have to engage in behavior which makes us feel good able to eliminate our bad mood: it can be a simple walk or the most popular hobby or chat with a dear friend of ours. By managing every single day as much as possible to silence our most anxious part, we'll come to forget about it, to no longer need this part of us to face our days. And everything will be lighter and more serene!

• It comes naturally to us think about the future and worry about its management, the unknown scares us. In a delicate moment like that of pregnancy we have to make the great effort of focus on the present as much as possible. So try not to spend your days considering how to manage your baby once it is born, how to help the older brother accept the brand new baby brother and so on. Everything will come more naturally if you concentrate on the present moment and live it rather than losing it with a thousand worries and fears. Green light then towards the activities that give you joy and permit you to focus on the now: pamper yourself whenever possible and have fun!

• During the moments you don’t let your emotions out, free them, cry. Share your state of mind with those who can understand you and can reassure you and give you comfort. Do not hold grudges, sadness or anger inside you but let them out because emotions are necessary to be processed and understood. Only in this manner will you be able to truly know very well what is happening to you. On the contrary, they'll accumulate in you and give rise to anxiety, depression and repressed anger that are difficult to manage and understand.

• Try to invest your pregnancy in the take care of yourself, of your home and nest for the baby who will arrive. This patient, deep and attentive care brings in you a healthy awareness of the great task you are about to carry out, however it will remove various worries as you will focus on the beautiful: create yourself with your hands exactly what can make your home welcoming and sunny, wear that dress that fits you so well with your sacred belly, pamper your partner and your bond with surprises, new ideas, creations that keep you going.

If pregnancy anxiety becomes unmanageable: what to do?

However, it may happen that despite all our good intentions and a thousand tries to feel good, anxiety and agitation invade our every single day. In this case it is useful rely on professionals who can help us: she can be a psychologist but also a trusted midwife. We don’t have to be ashamed or feel like failing if we feel bad: pregnancy puts the strongest minds to the test. What we should do is not to get down and become aware that this child of ours originates down to us to teach himself something, even through suffering and pain. Consequently we must live this tiring moment, be guided by anyone who has the tools to do it and understand what can arise from our feeling bad.

Another viable strategy is that of share their experiences with other mothers, especially pregnant too: understanding that you are not alone and that someone has already gone through that great suffering or perhaps is experiencing it too, permits us to strengthen ourselves, to share its weight, to be understood and to find together strategies to get out of it. Pregnancy as the duration of childbirth are two excellent opportunities for to have the ability to be reborn as a woman, they permit us to awaken old wounds which have never healed, to come to terms with the past, to better understand ourselves and also the people around us. Do not miss these precious opportunities, immerse yourself with what you feel and let yourself be guided from your state of mind without victimization or alarmism, however with the awareness that everything transpires with us to improve and make us grow.

…