Exercise for a Happier Baby

Sunday 2/1/09 - Diana

I went to an amazing lecturet by Karen Strange, a midwife and educator out of Colorado. She lectures around the world on neonatal resuscitation as well as a variety of subtopics of gestation and birth, but this one in particular was about the physiology of the birth process and the effect on the baby. As many of you know there has been massive research performed and subsequent data released about maternal nutrition and the ramifications on her fetus; everything from size to propensity for diabetes has been linked to the conditions of the womb. Well, it goes even deeper: personality is developed in utero. In theory, the baby feels everything that the mother feels and experiences everything that the mother experiences, and prepares accordingly for the outside world. The baby develops survival mechanisms that will help it to thrive And even if you find this a little hard to fathom it still remains true that the body chemicals released during times of stress and times of relaxation pass through the blood supply to the growing fetus within, meaning that the child at the very least gets a taste of whatever is being released into the mother's bloodstream, from adrenaline to oxytocin.

The way that this relates to this venue is by adding the component of exercise. Exercise is known to release endorphines and other morphine-like opioids that act like a natural euphoric sedative to humans, also known as the "runner's high". Mothers experiencing this rush of endorphines pass the bliss along to baby. There is so much to this, that one could go even deeper and speak to the 'bouncing' or 'jarring' of exercise and the baby's perceived physiological stresses being calmed by the mother's release of these opioids, preparing it even further to handle life's ups and downs. I don't know if that's backed up by any science but it's where my head goes with it.

Long story short, here's another reason why exercise is fantastic during pregnancy. It's not only good for your bod, but your head and heart (your physical one and your emotional one) and helps your baby to start life in the calmest most nurturing environment possible. Check out Karen's website and her great links here www.newbornbreath.com/content/websites , and keep it moving pregnant mamas! You're doing great things for your baby!