When we as women become pregnant, what is the first thing we think of regarding health? Most women think of "prenatal care" (aka doctors visits). Many may go as far as to think about nutrition, prenatal vitamins, & quitting unhealthy habits. But what else? Maybe I'm way off base here, but from what I've seen & experienced myself is the fact that this is as far as most women think into prenatal health.
Today I am going to share with you my take on what really creates & sustains a healthy pregnancy.
The 3 keys to a healthy pregnancy are :
Self care,
Education,
And trust.
Sounds too simple to be true.. Too few boxes on the checklist. But stick around and I'll explain why this is all you need.
What is self care?
Self care is the act of taking care of one's self. It is knowing yourself, listening to your body, and meeting your own needs. In pregnancy this is vital. There are basic needs like food, water, sleep, & safety that everyone is aware of... But what else makes up proper self care? What about mental health? Spiritual health? Being connected with and truly knowing yourself?
This is something most of us are not taught growing up. We aren't taught how to listen and become aware of what is going on inside our bodies, minds, & hearts. We aren't taught the variations of normal and how to handle them. We aren't taught to first turn to the inside...
During the entirety of pregnancy I believe this, above all else, is key to having a healthy pregnancy. Look within to find out what your needs are and fill them to the best of your ability. Make this a top priority. Make sure you are eating, sleeping, & pottying properly. Take the time to do things that bring you joy. Seek out support if you are struggling. Bond with baby. And don't underestimate taking the time to look within. Only YOU can truly know yourself and your body.
Education I think is fairly self explanatory but I am going to elaborate anyway. This aspect doesn't get nearly the focus that it deserves in today's society. Outside of looking within & knowing one's self, this, to me, is of the upmost importance. Most women generally hand this responsibility over to medical professionals, but I believe it is our responsibility to know what to look for. As I mentioned above, we aren't taught the variations of normal. We aren't well educated on what a normal, physiological pregnancy looks like. Why this isn't important in our society is beyond me. To know if something is going wrong, first we must know what is normal.
I remember in my first pregnancy how ignorant I was & how helpless that left me feeling. Every little ache and pain sent me running to the doctor, or at the very least, strongly considering it. I worried about so many things that I now look back and feel silly for. But that's what not being taught leads to.
Since then I have taken the time to educate myself as much as possible on physiological pregnancy (and listening to my body). Experience has also been an amazing teacher of course, but taking the time to get to know my own normal and understand what can be normal in pregnancy has been a huge comfort for me. Alongside finding out what is normal, I also educated myself on what is NOT normal. It isn't always easy to read up on scary risks and weeding through the buttload of fear mongering out there... but the knowledge is helpful to have on hand.
Like I said before, to know if something is wrong, we must first know what is normal. So take the time to educate yourself where society has failed to do so.
Last but not least is learning to trust. It is of vital importance to learn to trust yourself, your body, your baby, and this process. As women, we were literally MADE to do this. This process is biologically normal & unique to women. This doesn't mean that things *can't* go wrong, they can and they do. That is just a fact of reality. But pregnancy & birth are not inherently dangerous processes and we were made to do this.
We also need to understand that we cannot & should not strive to hyper control this process. What will happen, will happen. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't take care of yourself or seek help if something does go wrong. Not by any means do I mean to convey that message. What I mean is - there are things we can control and things we can't. That, too, is just a fact. The only things we can do are to take care of ourselves to the best of our ability and trust our intuition. The rest will play out how it plays out. It does no one any good to spend their time worrying themselves to death trying to control the uncontrollable. Negative stress isn't good for mom or baby, so the best thing you can do for yourself with the aspects you can't control is to have faith.
Believe it or not, YOU HAVE GOT THIS GIRL!
Realizing the importance of & honing these skills myself has transformed me from a scared little mouse of a girl who worried herself to death and relied on others to let me know everything was ok... To a strong, educated, confident woman who truly believes that she is inherently powerful and capable! And I share this in hopes of helping each and every one of you to reach this state of being. Because it f*cking ROCKS!
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