MyFertilityGuide

The obvious physical changes that occur during pregnancy are vast and drastic. Everything about the physical appearance and physical function is focused on one thing: nourishing and growing your baby. However, the emotional and social changes that occur as a result of pregnancy are just as significant and begin to create change in the mother’s life long before the child is born.

Changes in Relationships

On the way to motherhood, other commitments and roles fall to the wayside. Self-identity and your identity in the eyes of others changes with the growing baby. Friends, family members, partners and co-workers will now view you as a mother in addition to your previous role. In some cases, motherhood cancels out your pre-pregnancy status, and this can be painful.

The dissolution of relationships during pregnancy can be a positive thing. Friends may reveal their true colors during this time and you may find that you are better off without them. With effort and honesty, the relationships that matter will last through pregnancy and into motherhood.

• Ask for support. You can’t get what you don’t ask for. Sometimes all your friends and family need to hear are that you still want them and need them in your life despite the new changes.
• Include others in the process. Invite your friend, family member or partner to come with you to a prenatal visit or express your fears, hopes and concerns in a way that allows them to help you.
• Allow for adjustment. Your pregnancy and imminent motherhood could be a real jolt for others in your life. Maintain normalcy in the work place and continue to show interest in the lives or you friends, family and partner but don’t pretend that the pregnancy isn’t happening for their sake. Give them time to adjust to the pregnancy in their own time.

Emotional Changes

The emotions that come with pregnancy are as individual as the woman who feels them. Intensity is increased exponentially by the hormones, making pregnancy an overwhelming time for some women. The joy, fear, and uncertainty as well as the loss of self-identity plague many pregnancies leaving women physically and emotionally exhausted—and this is just in the first trimester.

The second trimester may bring with it a leveling out of emotion. Once the initial shock of the pregnancy has passed, you may feel more up to preparing for the coming child and continuing with pre-pregnancy work and projects. Sexual relationships and partners will be another emotional adjustment to deal with at this time as it becomes more physically apparent that your life is about to change dramatically.

The final trimester can bring with it another bout of panic about pending motherhood mixed with frustration about your increasingly cumbersome body. Your emotions may find vent in mood swings and squabbles with those around you.

Dealing With Change

Changes are impossible to avoid with pregnancy, but you can cope with them in such a way that you don’t damage yourself or your relationships with others.

• Keep a journal and vent here first.
• Take time for yourself when you need it.
• Don’t force yourself to take on responsibilities or continue with commitments that are too tiring.
• Connect with your baby.
• Write a baby book to memorialize your pregnancy experience.
• Stay healthy.
• Consult a doctor if you feel overwhelmed, hopeless or scared.