How to bond with the baby in the womb in the first trimester of pregnancy
Finding the link between the mind, your body and the baby you are carrying during pregnancy is very important because thoughts and emotions and the way we manage them can have an impact not only on the well-being of the mother but also on our son’s.
When we are pregnant we often focus on the practical aspects of pregnancy. Instead it would be very useful to prioritize prenatal bonding.
How can you bond with the baby in your belly at such an early stage of pregnancy?
Through relaxation and visualization techniques with which “happiness hormones” are sent to the child which help to establish this bond.
It takes 20 minutes a day to do this and the pregnancy will be filled with positivity.
You’re probably already adopting visualization techniques without knowing it, such as when you’re in bed thinking about your baby, and what it’s going to be like. Visualization techniques don’t require much skill, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it. You will notice when it is working because it will increase your state of well-being which consequently will produce these “hormones of happiness” that reach the child.
Even in the first trimester, therefore, it is possible to be able to create a bond with the baby and pregnancy will no longer be seen as a period of nausea and tiredness.
Creating this bond may not be easy if you have had difficulty conceiving, if you come from a miscarriage. In fact, in these situations there is a fear of not being able to carry the pregnancy to term and the first 12 weeks are lived as if in limbo, until the first ultrasound scans confirm that everything is going well.
The mind-body-child bond helps to overcome these fears as well.
Visualization: how to do it
If you don’t know how to get started, try this:
- Make yourself comfortable, perhaps lying in bed
- Place your hands in a heart shape on your stomach, with your thumbs towards your belly button and your fingers towards your pubic area
- Close your eyes and breathe slowly. Thoughts will come, let them in and let them slip away
- Imagine a stream of light starting from the top of the head, passing through the forehead, descending towards the cheekbones and jaw.
- Release yourself from tensions, relax your lips and tongue in your mouth
- Let the flow of light descend into the neck and towards the shoulders: feel the muscles relax as the light descends towards the limbs and hands.
- Now imagine that the beam of light reaches the center of your body through an imaginary line.
- Imagine the space between the breasts, that place connected with the heart, with feelings, where you feel love, warmth and deep relaxation. The hormones you produce when you are happy are love hormones such as oxytocin, which is released into the bloodstream postpartum to help you bond with the baby
- Now let the light continue in a straight line to the uterus. Feel the light pass through your hands to reach the baby. Talk to him, tell him you can’t wait to hug him. Visualize his development, his heartbeat, and the nourishment coming to him through your body.
- Stay with these images for a while longer then allowing the light to descend, pass through your knees, calves, feet… leaving you relaxed and calm.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.