katie moore recently contacted me to chat about something we both have in common and feel strongly about...exercise and pregnancy go hand in hand!  we both feel extremely strong in our belief that healthy pregnancies involve physical activity to your mind and body!  stress is something that everyone has.  it is a part of life, but how we deal with the our stress is the important factor.  too much stress can be harmful to you and your unborn baby.  please read the article below by guest author, katie moore.  i hope you enjoy her abundant information and find it helpful and useful to you and/or someone you may know! 

please read on to see what katie moore has to say about this hot topic!  

Proven Benefits of Stress Reduction with Meditation During Pregnancy

Every new mom has a different experience with pregnancy. For some, stress is a defining feature from the beginning, yet others will not experience much stress until delivery day is near. Regardless of when it occurs, every new mom has to deal with stress, and the means of dealing with it well should be an early focus. Pregnancy classes often contain an informational segment covering the basics of why stress is bad for the health and how to minimize it, but new moms will gain additional benefits from learning active stress management techniques and increasing their tolerance naturally.

Why Focus on Stress Reduction?
Researchers have found a new focus of study for examining ways to benefit child health in the first few years of life. A national cohort study performed in 2011 followed Danish mothers and their babies from pregnancy through infancy. The stress levels of mothers were measured during pregnancy and corresponded to 16 categories of diagnosis for their children. The findings showed that stress levels can be an accurate predictor of medical problems during early childhood.

The children of mothers with higher levels of stress faced an increased risk of infectious disease and other negative health outcomes, including congenital disease, emotional disorders, and chronic diseases of the respiratory, musculoskeletal, and genitourinary systems. The only surprising finding was that more stress during pregnancy was negatively correlated with first diagnosis of circulatory, eye, and endocrine diseases.

Generally speaking, some stress is good. It is a part of life and dealing with it increases emotional and physical adaptability. Physical stress, in the form of exercise, is one of the best preventive measures that can be taken for good health. On the molecular level, stress causes the body to produce inflammatory compounds. The more healthy and adaptable a person is, the faster the body will counter inflammation by producing anti-inflammatory hormones. It is worthwhile to reduce exposure to stressors during pregnancy, whether it is less than appreciative boss or junk food, but it is important to also build tolerance and adaptability.

Emotional Stress Management with Meditation
Part of reducing emotional stress during pregnancy is to be fully informed of the stages, expected symptoms, and what will happen next. Many new moms experience unnecessary stress, simply because they do not understand that a symptom or change is wholly natural and nothing to be concerned about. Speaking to her doctor can help a mother feel more prepared and less stressed about her upcoming delivery day. Learning about the basics, like labor signs to look for, all the way to optional procedures, like umbilical cord blood banking, can all help a mother feel more confident about birth.

Meditation is a way of connecting the mind to the body and increasing awareness of the internal world. It has been shown to increase DHEA production and cause a more rapid release of anti-inflammatory hormones. In a strong sense, meditation helps in managing emotional stress just as exercise helps in managing physical stress. Peer-reviewed analysis of existing research on meditation confirms that it can shorten length of labor, increase birth weight, reduce pregnancy complications, and reduce overall emotional stress. Exercise plays a strong role in predicting maternal and infant health outcomes, but so too does meditation.

 

Katie Moore has written and submitted this article. Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26.

happy reading!