According to Unicef, approximately 67,385 babies are born in India each year, accounting for one-sixth of all child births worldwide. The journey from being pregnant to giving birth is different for every individual, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
There are a number of studies on how prenatal emotional anxiety and stress can affect the foetus development as well as the later stages of a child’s behavioural growth. And yes, most individuals may go through this tough phase in life. “Pregnancy is not only about the physical changes in your body; it’s also about the emotional phase.”
Effects of stress
Severe stress is bad during pregnancy. Stress is common during pregnancy, as a pregnant woman experiences a lot of changes. Cortisol is the hormone that is normally released in response to stress, which is high in the morning and low in the evening. It is found that the placenta acts as a barrier to cortisol.
A sudden increase in progesterone and estrogen levels is seen in pregnant women. The changes in hormone levels will lead to mood swings. High levels of stress may cause health issues like high blood pressure, increase the chances of a premature baby, and lower the body weight of the baby.
The babies’ brains may be shaped by the levels of stress experienced by the women during pregnancy.
A research article suggests that when stress hormone levels increase, women are less likely to conceive and more likely to miscarry.
The common causes of stress during pregnancy
Hormonal mood swings, morning sickness, tiredness, complications during conception, some health issues prior to conception, overthinking the delivery, postpartum, the people around you, if you work, then handling most of the things, pressure, and so on can all cause stress.
Treatment
Pregnant women should try to stay calm as much as possible. Be positive. Always keep in your mind as “YES I CAN HANDLE”. Discuss your feelings with others; the best person is your husband to open up yourself. If not, talk to people with whom you feel comfortable.
Yoga and meditation: Yes, meditation is not only good for you; even the foetus in the womb can have positive effects.
The best stress relievers are books: Read the books; both you and the kid will benefit.
Stop smoking and drinking: It not only adds to your stress, but it also has a long-term impact on your child’s development.
Have a healthy diet: lots of fruits, veggies, and dry fruits.
Focus on being happy: If something bothers you, simply go for a walk. The view of nature can actually calm you down.
Visit the gynaecologist on a regular basis to learn about the foetus’s growth.
Listen to the good, calming music: There are a number of musical styles that actually feel better.
Don’t think about the negative incidents that occurred. The past will be the past. Focus on the future, baby.
Relax, take a lot of rest, and practice breathing exercises.
The physical exercises (under guidance) are good.
“Dear MoMsters incorporate our tips and stay healthy.”
To encourage us, kindly share your views in the comments section below.
Hello dear MoMsters, is your baby now 8 months old? Then it is important to maintain the growth and development of the body tissues, organs, and metabolic system for proper functioning right from infancy. Provide a healthy diet such as cereals, pulses, vegetables, and fruits.
At this stage, slowly increase other feeds and decrease the frequency of breastfeeding. Per day, the calorie intake of your baby would be 750–900 kcal. About 400 to 500 calories should come from the mother’s breast milk.
Few points to be taken care of while feeding semi-solid food.
Use stainless steel or silver cup for feeding; do not use any plastic product.
Make sure that your baby’s feeding utensils are clean and sterilized with hot water, because your baby’s immune system is still weak and the baby is vulnerable to infection, hence maintain hygiene.
Prefer homemade foods over buying packaged or ready-made foods available in the market, because homemade is the safest and the healthiest.
While feeding avoids giving gadgets like mobile or other radiation-emitting substances, which is not good for the baby’s overall development.
All about food tips:
You should introduce one new food at a time for your baby, and wait for a minimum of 2 to 3 days before starting another item. This will also help you to understand any food item that is causing allergy/indigestion in your baby.
Everything should be made in a form of paste.
You can start adding ghee to foods in small quantities.
Non-veg should be given only after 11 months.
Don’t let her eat alone. Encourage eating with family members. Do not distract her while she’s eating by showing her toys etc., she should concentrate on her food.
Avoid biscuits, sugar, salt, honey, and cow milk till 1 year.
Do not mix 2 fruits or 2 veggies.
After feeding food, give warm water; do not give water from feeding bottles. Use a small cup or glass.
How do you know that your baby has an allergy to a particular food?
If a food doesn’t suit your baby, your baby may show the following symptoms:
Diarrhea
Runny nose
Rashes
Constipation
Vomiting
Colic (stomach pain)
If any of the above symptoms are seen, stop using that food and consult your child’s doctor.
At the age of 8 months, your baby will let you know that he or she is ready for finger foods. (What are finger foods? Any pieces of food that the baby can pick up quickly and eat by themselves are called finger foods.) Finger foods encourage the baby to self-feed, and they understand different textures while touching the food! But supervise the baby when they eat finger food, to avoid the risk of choking! Hence, you should include finger foods such as soft-cooked carrots, peeled apples, papaya pieces, bananas, and boiled potatoes.
And don’t force the baby to eat finger food, as each baby is unique and adopts eating habits at its own pace. Just keep trying your best to encourage his or her eating habits.
Quantity of food:
Fruit or veg puree – 1/2 cup.
Cereals – 1/2 cup.
It’s always better to be guided with your baby’s hunger, as appetite varies from day to day
“Dear MoMsters these are just guidelines that might give you an idea about introducing solid food, when & what to feed. And these are hourly routines, check the appetite of your baby and feed accordingly.
If the baby doesn’t like food, wait for a few weeks before introducing it again. Don’t force your baby to complete the entire cup.
Go through our tips, Stay healthy and Stay Happy.!!
The baby should only be fed breast milk for the first six months since breast milk contains an adequate amount of water. Breast milk has a water content of over 80%. Start nursing the infant even while they are having hiccups, and then properly burp the child for at least 8 to 10 minutes. (A baby under six months old should never be given water to relieve hiccups.)
Now let’s talk about the why?
Up to the age of six months, a baby’s kidneys cannot handle water. In general, water can disrupt a baby’s electrolyte balance for infants less than 6 months, which can ultimately result in seizures. A baby who becomes intoxicated by water runs the risk of having serious health consequences and having their growth and development stunted. Consequently, six months is the recommended age for introducing water to a newborn (at that time, you should still only offer your baby a little bit of water). But as your child gets older, his or her kidneys develop. It might also be unhealthy to add too much water to baby formula. Always stick to breast milk or correctly prepared infant formula to prevent these issues. Visit www.caringmomster.in for more pregnancy and parenting advice.
Dear New Mom’s generally after child birth women required extra care.
Preserve your body heat.
Post delivery, women are requested to cover their head with scarf the whole day according to Indian tradition. This is because generally the body heat is lost primarily, covering your head is believed to keep you warm and protect you from unnecessary cold.
Keep yourself Stress-free.️
Stress plays an important role in decreasing breastmilk (BM). Hence find a way to take rest, nap with baby. Try to assign housework to other members during your nap.
During this period your digestive system will be very sensitive, hence proper diet plan should be maintained.
Always prefer fresh food and avoid leftover food.
The new mother is advised to eat on time and not too much or too little.
At first take plenty of oral liquids including water, juice, and milk.
Milk contains calcium which boosts milk production, drink 1 glass of milk morning and before bedtime.
*[Limit drinks that contain caffeine like coffee, soda. Too much intake of caffeine can cause irritability to your baby and also it can interfere with your baby’s sleep.]*
Cook dill leaves with 10 pieces of garlic cloves, consume medium quantity in the morning and night for 3 days.It is rich in fiber, vitamin K, iron, and antioxidants which promotes enough BM and easy to digest. Garlic cloves stimulate lactation (galactagogue).
For non-vegetarian eat mutton thrice a week which boost BM.
Among fish you can go for Salmon which is rich in omega-3, it also helps to boost lactation.
take spinach noon time it contains iron, folic acid, vitamins which is beneficial for both mom and baby.
Soak 5 almonds overnight & morning grind it, mix with milk and drink. Almonds are rich in calories, vitamins & minerals which boost BM.
take iron rich foods like pulses and legumes, green leafy vegetables, red meat, beetroot,
for vitamin D – exposure to morning sunlight will help, because during delivery mom would have lost calcium and vitamin. Till 6 month, doctor would have given calcium and vitamin supplements , continue the same.
Do not skip breakfast.
Avoid oily food, spicy and junk food like chips, chocolates, cakes and soft drinks, also avoid gassy veggies like cabbage, potatoes and cauliflower for the first three weeks after childbirth, as they disturb the digestive system.
Among Fruits: any fruits which doesn’t trigger cold. You can take apple, melons, small banana, papaya etc.
Avoid foods which cause indigestion, it depends on individual, check and go accordingly.
Take care dear MoMsters and follow our tips, stay healthy.
Here I am with a new short write up to give you little confidence, to give you little comfort from my side.
After delivery, for any new mom it is quite a difficult and challenging time for the first few months.
Those sleepless night,
those unbearable suggestions ,
those heartbreaking cryings of the newborn.
Amidst, you have household work to do. You have to look after your newborn.
And above all, if something is not done as per the expectation of few family members, you will be held guilty.
But, the bitter truth is, in India and in most families these are happening. If few moms are blessed with understanding husbands then they might be frustrated with in-laws
If few are blessed with an understanding husband and in-laws both they are worried about not having proper Breastmilk supply
The worst cases I have heard, where a mom has gone through a tough phase because none of her family members helped her and she had no one to look up to for help. But now after 2 years of Motherhood she has made herself more stronger and independent.
So, mommies, why I cited these examples is because each one of us has some or another problem but a very common problem is postpartum depression. We have to deal with it from day one else our life will look like a burden. Motherhood will look like a punishment.
I know, I know, It is easier said than done.
But believe me, I have gone through this phase and have chosen this topic because it helped a lot in terms of gaining confidence, in order to overcome fear, anxiety, and sadness.
What is *Me time*
It is a time to spend with oneself. Doing what you love to do or at that point in time thinking of doing that. It could be listening to music, or just relax or watching youtube, learning new courses like Digital Marketing, Python programming, Coding etc , going through your old photos ..anything but all alone and it should make you feel better.
No Household work or office work or any pending work.. No No…
How is that possible??
Yes, very much possible.
If you think any of your family members support you, ask him to take care of the baby for half an hour to one hour. And this is why you get your #MeTime.
The Worst case scenario which I have heard or seen is where people think it is only a Mother’s duty to look after the baby, in that case also those moms survived happily and took out their #MeTime.
The only time is early morning. When All family members are asleep, no one wakes up. Just wake up according to your baby routine matching with other family members’ sleeping patterns. Take out at least half an hour and the whole day you will find energized.
It is difficult after a sleepless night but we know we have to wake up after every 2 or 3 hours to feed the baby for the next 6 months. So, why not accept this fact and make use of it.
Yes, I have shared a general idea. If anyone thinks this might work for them .. try and please share your experience.
“Please consult your pediatrician Surbhi(an imaginary character), Your baby should have started walking by this time, he is already 12 months old now” – Suggestion by few wellwishers
“Oh! my baby started crawling by this month, I think you should give him a regular and proper massage” – Suggestion by few more wellwishers
and what not ??
can you relate Mommies?
Have you heard these kinds of comments/suggestions ???
Phewww….. you are not alone to face all these demoralizing comments.
There are many other moms including me and my fellow members who once heard these comments in disguise which were named as suggestions.
You might have felt if you are doing something wrong or not doing something which is really needed for your baby to transit from one stage to another stage.
It creates self-doubt or a pang of guilt and we start comparing our kids with another one and feel very low.
Please hold on !! Control your thoughts which have been turned into negative and demoralizing thoughts over a period of time.
Please be informed that for a baby it takes time to transit from one stage to another.
and it absolutely depends on babies when they will be ready for the next stage. There is a range of months, not a particular month. Hence, if your baby is in between those ranges and still about to take up the next stage, then there is no point in worrying.
Just to make you more comfortable, I will try to list down a few stages and a range of months during which a baby can show those developmental stages.
Vision : Newborn can see objects that are 8-15 inches away
Sound : Responds to sound by 1 month
Smile : Begins to smile by 3rd month and laughs out loud by 4th to 5th month
Teething : Begins by 6th to 7th month.
Rolling over : 3 to 5 months
Neck Stability: By 6 Months
Sitting With support: 4 to 7 Months
Sitting without support: by 8th Months
Crawling which includes crawling like a snake and then proper crawling with the help of hands and knees: by 9 to 10 months
Standing by taking support: in between 9 to 15 months till they start walking
Walking: 9 Months to 16 Months
Talking: by 6 months 2 or 3 words like gaga, mama, baba, etc and by the end of 2 years few phrases. In between, it is just a combination of 6 to 7 words.
So, I hope after reading it one can take a sigh of relief that their kids are absolutely normal. Now, the question is how to ignore those negative sounds and still continue the relationship. I will suggest just smile and say “wow! your baby is really smart” good to see such fast progress.” or “Yeah! we had a meeting with the pediatrician yesterday or recently, he said few babies take time to walk or crawl, etc (be very honest), and based on the situation.
Last but not the least, If you are reading this article, then you know what “NOT” to say to the other mom 🙂
You can ask in comment section, if you have to face such situations. We will try to share few more points.
