How Do A Mother’s Emotions Affect Her Baby?
The own emotional state affects the people around us. In the same way, the emotions of a mother to her baby affect her. In fact, during the nine months of pregnancy, your emotions will affect how the baby develops but, above all, they will affect during breastfeeding. In the following lines we will explain why.
Bad habits such as alcohol or tobacco, a poor diet or the abuse of coffee are harmful while the pregnancy occurs. New research has concluded that the mother’s emotional state can also negatively affect the baby. That is why today we want to know how a mother’s emotions affect her baby.
The emotions of the mother in the womb
In the words of Professor Enrique García Fernández-Abascal: “ The mother’s emotions are a great regulator of her and the baby’s physiology. Those that are positive, for example, generate an attenuation of the cardiovascular system and an activation and reinforcement of the immune system. That is, the happier we are, the more vaccinated, in some way, we will be against the cold. On the other hand, when negative emotions overwhelm us, we secrete toxic hormones, our heart races and our immune system is depressed, which leaves us more vulnerable to diseases ” .
This does not mean that pregnancy consists of always perceiving positive emotions. We are not free to experience negative emotions. We know that the placenta protects the baby from negative emotions. The problem arises when they become chronic and the mother is unable to feel well-being and happiness. It is clear that stress or anxiety in its proper measure are not bad, but prolonged in time they are harmful, both for the baby and for the mother herself.
Mother’s emotions during breastfeeding
In this period, an adequate emotional regulation of the mother is crucial. We know that at a physiological level the advantages of breastfeeding for the mother and the baby are innumerable. Well, on an emotional level, exactly the same thing happens and the future affective development of the baby will depend on it, for example.
If the mother is experiencing emotions such as sadness for a long time, this will affect the production of prolactin and oxytocin, responsible for producing milk for mothers in the lactating period. Thus, changes in the endocrine system will not happen properly.
Another example would be prolonged stress. At these times, the body secretes a series of hormones such as cortisol, which prepare us for flight, fight or freezing.
When these hormones are triggered, the functions that the body considers less important to deal with, such as the functions of the digestive system and those of the immune system, are stopped. Therefore, this will negatively affect the functions of the digestive system and may even decrease the body’s capacity when a condition occurs.
Continuing with the above, these hormones found in breast milk can, through blood plasma, be transmitted to the baby. In this way, it can cause a slowdown in the baby’s neuronal and immune maturation, and a greater difficulty in gaining weight, since both systems are not working properly.
Conclusions
Throughout the article we have been able to see how the mother’s emotions affect her baby. Although there are no good or bad emotions and all are worthy of being experienced, it is true that some have a negative influence when they are prolonged in time or, even worse, when they end up becoming chronic in the person. For this reason, mothers have to work on managing their emotions so that they remain properly regulated and, thus, favorably benefit their baby.
