Research
2. Emotions
The transition into parenthood is no easy task, it can be accompanied by excitement, joy, anticipation, as well as by anxieties and fears for the infant’s health and one’s ability to handle this drastic transition. However, all these emotions are also felt by the unborn infant. Children experience emotions that are prevalent in the household prenatally. For example, they can feel the mother’s distress and become stressed themselves through the transmission of stress hormones via the placenta, hearing loud noises (i.e., shouting), or experiencing a restricted blood flow to the placenta due to negative emotions. Therefore, experiencing negative emotions for a long period of time during pregnancy tends to affect the unborn child negatively and decreases the quality of parent-child bonding (Gobel et al., 2019). To elaborate, the quality of the parent-child bond decreases because:
a. The child can feel the effects of physiological and psychological stress.
b. When a partner experiences emotional distress, the other partner also tends to experience negative emotions, which in turn affects the unborn child.
c. Emotional distress may distract both partners from spending time bonding with their unborn child.
To conclude, maintaining a healthy relationship with your partner, and addressing any anxieties or distress that you may be feeling at the time of pregnancy is an essential factor in maintaining a healthy emotional bond with your child. In difficult times, parents are advised to go to therapy in order to deal with their fears and anxieties. In case an event that causes anger or sadness occurs, both partners are advised to spend time sitting with their unborn infant, and talking soothingly with one another, all which increases calmness and restores a healthy bonding experience.
References
Moon, C., Lagercrantz, H., & Kuhl, P. K. (2013). Language experienced in utero affects vowel perception after birth: a two-country study. Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 102(2), 156–160. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.12098
Göbel, A., Barkmann, C., Arck, P., Hecher, K., Schulte-Markwort, M., Diemert, A., & Mudra, S. (2019). Couples’ prenatal bonding to the fetus and the association with one's own and partner's emotional well-being and adult romantic attachment style. Midwifery, 79, 102549.