Here's How Thoughts During Pregnancy Influence Your Baby

Your baby is what your mind is. If you ever wondered what personality your baby is going to turn out to be, you might be surprised. You may be a modern logical thinking mother and might wonder that this claim is a bit from the granny’s tale, but it is not quite. Remember, how you are constantly reminded to be sunny, cheerful, and happy while pregnant?

Around the world, there are a number of beliefs revolving around how the thought process of a pregnant woman might affect her child. From the Hellenistic culture, one could quote Hippocrates saying, “What a mother is thinking can transmute the fetus in different ways.” Leonardo Da Vinci said, “The things desired by the mother are often found impressed on parts of the child who the mother carried at the time of the desire. . . . one and the same soul governs the two bodies, and the same body nourished both.”

Eastern culture also has its bit of backing for the same. Indian wisdom says that the fetus develops by the third or the fourth month. This is when it begins to feel the mother’s positive or negative emotions, which can leave an imprint on the unborn child’s mind. It may also determine the permanent tendency in child to behave in a specific manner.

Metaphysics says much about pregnant women and the impact of their thoughts on their babies. But what does science have to say?

Ample research has proven that there is a close association between a mother’s thoughts on her unborn baby. While it has been found that positive emotions and optimism nurture your baby, negative thoughts, emotions, and stress response might injure your baby’s emotional and psychological health.

Research proves that soon after a woman conceives, the embryo has a level of consciousness. The subconscious is active enough for a baby to store information to prepare it for its mother’s environment. Having said so, the father’s role is also equally important in shaping a baby’s subconscious mind.

In fact, your baby begins to hear and make movements rhythmic to your voice. So, if you are happy, your baby is receptive to it. You must, therefore, guard yourself against yelling in anger or inviting any other negative emotions.

Researchers have taken sonograms of parents yelling at each other. The sonograms show that your baby’s entire body flinches in agitation. If the negative emotions have been on the go, they can have a cumulatively damaging effect on the fetus. It could scare you, but it’s true that you are inadvertently feeding negative energy to your baby. Studies have also shown that a bad relationship between parents can put their child at risk of physical and psychological damage by a whopping 200% or more!

Bruce Lipton, Stanford researcher, believes that it is biologically not possible for a gene to operate independently of its milieu because genes are designed in a way that they are regulated by signals from their immediate surroundings and could be drastically influenced by the social interactions. He says that thoughts perceived by mothers before a baby is born enables the yet-to-be-born to optimize his physiologic and genetic development.

Dr. Thomas Verny, the founder of the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH), says that researchers have begun to identify living organisms as ‘dynamic systems’ that can actively reprogram gene behaviors to accommodate environmental challenges.

In yet another research testimonial as provided by Dr. Joseph Mercola on his natural health website, mercola.com, he reports a distinct experiment that shows how the placenta is receptive to a mother’s thoughts. The study conducted by the Institute of Heartmath, a non-profit organization committed to studying emotional and stress management, used placental DNA for the experiment. The study involved 28 researchers who were exclusively trained in how to elicit and feel strong emotions voluntarily. Each of the researchers was provided with a vial of placental DNA. It was found that the DNA sample would change shape as per the emotions of the researcher. Sounds quite startling, doesn’t it? When the researchers felt positive emotions such as love, gratitude, and joy, the DNA would show relaxed trends, as in the strands would unwind and lengthen. When the researchers felt negative emotions such as fear, anger, stress, or frustration, the DNA would tighten up, become shorter while switching off many of its codes. But the codes would switch on, as soon as the researchers felt positive again!

Indeed, there is a direct and clear link between a mother’s emotions and her baby’s personality and thought process. Also, we cannot forget that the feel-good hormones like oxytocin might also be circulating to the baby. But thoughts sure have a more direct link in casting their effect on the DNA.

So, mothers, it’s time you started thinking positive and had loads of happy time!

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