Welcome to Pregnancy guide
Pregnancy Diabetes Article
Parenting Starts Before Pregnancy
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
The following article is offered for free use in your ezine,
print publication or on your web site, so long as the author resource box at the end is included, with hyperlinks. Notification of publication would be appreciated.
Title: Parenting Starts Before Pregnancy
Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com
Copyright: © 2004 by Margaret Paul
URL: http://www.innerbonding.com
Word Count: 817
Category: Parenting
Parenting Starts Before Pregnancy
By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
While it may seem farfetched to some people, many of my clients remember what they felt and experienced while still in the womb. Comments such as these are not unusual:
“I knew even before I was born that my mother didn’t want me.”
“I could feel my mother’s fear and anxiety even before I was born.”
Parenting does not start once the child is born. Good parenting starts even before getting pregnant. It starts by caring about what you eat, how much exercise and sleep you get, and by making sure that you are taking responsibility for your feelings of anxiety and stress. Your baby will feel what you feel, so learning how to be in peace and joy before getting pregnant is part of good parenting.
I loved being pregnant. I had always wanted children so I was thrilled to be pregnant. I loved feeling the baby moving within me, awed by the very fact of creating new life. I loved feeling an elbow or a knee slide across my stomach. I loved that my body could be a receptacle for bringing through this soul, this angel from heaven. I could not think of anything more profound, more worth doing. Who was this unique little person growing in my body?
I read every book I could on parenting and thought endlessly how I wanted to be a different parent than my parents were.
The problem was that I have never thought about how much my relationship with myself and with my husband might affect this child.
My husband was angry, distant and withdrawn during my pregnancy and the first three months after giving birth to our son. He was a person who wanted control and he was not happy that I got pregnant six months before we had planned. He didn’t open his heart until our son smiled at him at three months of age.
Being young, I had no idea how to handle the loneliness I felt at not having my husband joyfully involved in the hugest event of my life. Had I known then what I know now, I would have done anything I could to get the help we needed to bring our relationship back into caring. We can’t go back, but I’m sure that my son felt the lack of joy that existed between my husband and me. I’m sure he felt the depth of my loneliness. I wish I knew then what I know now about taking responsibility for my own feelings.
Being pregnant and giving birth are enormous events in a woman’s life, especially the first child, which changes your life so dramatically. If you do not know how to take responsibility for your own feelings of anger, hurt, anxiety, depression and loneliness, things will only get worse after giving birth. A child does not solve problems for you.
It’s hard to imagine before having a child what it is like to be responsible for another life 24/7. If you have not learned how to lovingly parent yourself before giving birth, you might find yourself getting lost as parent your baby. Good parenting starts before getting pregnant, with learning how to take loving care of yourself.
If you have a desire to be a good parent, here are steps you can take before getting pregnant:
1. Physical health: make sure that you are in good physical shape by eliminating sugar and artificial sweeteners. Start to shop in health food stores and buy only organic products. Eliminating pesticides and food additives is essential for good health. Also be sure to get enough exercise and sleep.
2. Emotional health: instead of having your eyes on your partner, turn your eyes inward and begin to compassionately notice your own feelings. Start to treat your own feelings in the same way you are planning on treating your future child’s feelings - with caring and understanding. In addition, start to practice taking loving action in your own behalf - standing up for yourself, speaking your truth, taking time for yourself. Practice taking loving care of your own feelings instead of making your partner responsible for how you feel. Begin to notice what you think and do that may be causing you stress. Changing thoughts and behavior that cause your stress before getting pregnant is essential for good parenting.
3. Spiritual health: practice opening to a higher source of guidance, wisdom, strength and comfort. This can be your own highest, wisest self within you, or a Higher Power outside of you. You will find that being able to turn a source of wisdom and comfort within or without will go a long way in helping you stay loving and stress-free with yourself, your partner, and your baby. In addition, this will help you know what to do in different challenging situations with your baby.
If you are planning on having a baby, start today in becoming a good parent!
About the Author
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?" She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or margaret@innerbonding.com.
Pregnancy Diabetes Best products
Pregnancy Diabetes News
pregnancy diabetes
IMPORTANT: Bing News RSS feed has moved!
FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Breast-feeding reduces the risk of obesity in children born to mothers with diabetes during their pregnancy, a new study indicates. Researchers followed 94 children of diabetic mothers and 399 children of non ...
Read moreWhen Mom Has Pregnancy Diabetes, Breast-Feeding Curbs Child Obesity
A recent research has highlighted that risk of a mother succumbing to death increases by manifolds if the woman has been suffering from diabetes. The findings of the research have been published in the journal Diabetologia. For the research, data of ...
Read moreComplication during Pregnancy Increases If Would- Be -Mum Is Diabetic, Say Researchers
BETHESDA, Md -- January 25, 2012 -- Women who consumed a diet high in animal fat and cholesterol before pregnancy were at higher risk for gestational diabetes than women whose diets were lower in animal fat and cholesterol, according to a study ...
Read moreHigh Animal Fat Diet Increases Gestational Diabetes Risk
Each year, over 135,000 women are discovered to have diabetes during their pregnancy. But the true number is much higher since one in three women never gets properly checked for this very serious disease. The reasons include lack of access to quality ...
Read moreDR. PONDER: Choices pregnant women make affect child's health
The chance of a birth defect was lowest in women who had blood glucose levels within the normal range at the start of pregnancy. Experts analysed data from more than 401,000 pregnancies of single babies, including 1,677 in women with diabetes, between 1996 ...
Read moreDiabetes 'raises birth defect risk'
and Type 2 diabetes, largely the result of diet lead to problems controlling the amount of sugar in the blood. Common problems in pregnancy include miscarriage and the baby being overweight due to too much sugar. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online ...
Read moreBirth defects increase four-fold for diabetic mothers
In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that show that short therapy with the anti-diabetic medication Pioglitazone ...
Read moreStudy finds that anti-diabetic medication can prevent the long-term effects of maternal obesity
As a group, women with type 1 diabetes still have an increased risk of foetal death and a slightly increased risk of infant death compared with healthy pregnant women, according to a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Oslo ...
Read moreIncreased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes among women with type 1 diabetes
Other research suggests cod liver oil taken during pregnancy may increase birthweight and reduce the risk of the baby developing type 1 diabetes. But as well as immediate benefits to the child, studies show fish oils can help mums-to-be in a number of ways ...
Read more