The hardship of trying to have the perfect pregnancy
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MummyBloggers
The news that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists had issued new guidelines this week regarding alcohol consumption and pregnancy brought a whole host of memories back to me.
Guidelines, stipulations, rules and regulations; when I was pregnant with Ella seven years ago I could have repeated each and every statute verbatim. Hell, my partner said I was mumbling them in my sleep and I believe him.
It reminded me of exam time when my brain might shift into screensaver mode and I’d find myself repeating the Pythagoras Theorem to myself until something (shiny) distracted me.
I didn’t understand the theorem and I certainly couldn’t apply it to real life, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t rattle it off at a moment’s notice.
I was the same when I was expecting. I could list each and every rule and regulation relating to pregnancy, labour and postnatal care- even those that contradicted each other- and what did it bring me? Nothing, but heartache and anxiety.
And heartburn, but in retrospect that could have been Ella.
What to eat, what not to eat, what to do, what not to do. Oh, I was your woman if you wanted an encyclopaedic knowledge of the 10 (thousand) pregnancy commandments.
But here’s the thing, the more I attempted to adhere to these guidelines, the more worried I became.
The more judicious I tried to be, the more stressed I got.
And the more meticulous I was, the more terrified I appeared.
Are you sensing a pattern?
It was like I couldn’t see the woods for the trees.
Common sense might dictate I shouldn’t do something during pregnancy, but the minute I found myself with child I disregarded all I knew to be true and hurled myself at the mercy of medical journals, baby books and internet guidelines.
These guidelines, while undoubtedly useful in some cases, can have a detrimental effect on the mental health of pregnant women. And Lord knows we’re fragile enough as it is during those nine months without thinking our every sip, slurp or stumble may harm our child.
Here’s my ten cents if you’re interested:
Stick to the hard and fast rules, check in with guidelines every now and then, chat with your nurse and communicate and confide in your partner, but do not live nine months of your life reading and memorising every tip and trick in the book because you know what? For the most part, common sense will get you through every step of your pregnancy.
You know that old saying ‘Mum really does knows best’? It’s still around for a reason.
Because, often times, we do.