During pregnancy, you know you need to change your entire lifestyle to get your body healthy and physically ready to support the growing life inside you. So you change the foods that you eat, avoid smoking and alcohol, get regular exercise and stick to a regular sleep schedule to get healthy for your baby.
While your body needs plenty of prenatal care and attention, you cannot neglect your emotional health throughout your pregnancy. Between hormonal changes, financial concerns and all the impending changes about to take place in your life, your emotional health can quickly slip if you do not pay attention.
Get the Care You Need
Many women may have heard of postpartum depression, which strikes after the birth. But the American Pregnancy Association says that as many as 10 to 20 percent of women suffer from depression symptoms while they are pregnant. Pregnancy can be a frightening and confusing time, and if depression sets in, it can keep you from taking care of yourself the way you know you should. Stress can also occur from all the changes and new worries with impending parenthood--and can also affect your health during pregnancy.
Depression and stress can affect your sleep, diet and exercise and can even keep you from getting the proper prenatal care that your baby needs to be healthy.
Prevent Complications
Depression and stress during pregnancy can trigger a number of harmful behaviors that can leave long-lasting effects on an unborn baby. Without treatment, the American Pregnancy Association says that depression can cause problems with baby's development, low birth weight and even pre-term labor.
The March of Dimes says that stress can even cause worsened pregnancy symptoms, like headaches, backaches, insomnia, lack of appetite or overeating and frequent infections. Sustained high stress levels can also lead to high blood pressure and heart problems.
Be Prepared for Parenting
Depression can leave you with feelings of sadness, worthless, hopelessness, anxiety and problems concentrating. Depression can even lead to thoughts of suicide. Parenting is a rewarding experience, but a huge challenge even for a mentally healthy person. If your emotional health suffers during your pregnancy and depression takes its toll, you will not be able to prepare yourself for the challenges ahead. Parenting requires mental preparation, patience and a clear head--untreated depression can make this new challenge less rewarding and more difficult than it needs to be.
Taking the time to focus on your emotional health can make pregnancy a more enjoyable experience, help ensure your baby's health and proper development and help prepare you for one of the biggest and best challenges of your life--being a parent.
