Playtimes HK Magazine October 2017 Issue | Page 34

advice Baby Blues & Beyond There’s a belief that the road to parenthood should be a celebrated journey, yet the stress and anticipation associated with pregnancy, and having a newborn, can make it less so. Dr Sharon Wong talks about the emotions I t’s true that the journey through pregnancy is permeated with apprehensive feelings. Every movement, sensation or feeling you experience brings a wave of nervous wondering and, at times, paranoia. As your foetus grows over the 40-week gestation period, your brain alters to enable you to adapt to this life-changing event. Research has shown that pregnant 32 www.playtimes.com.hk women, most notably first-time mothers, have significant reductions in brain volume during pregnancy and sometimes for an indefinite period thereafter – of course this is otherwise known as “baby-brain”! These changes occur simultaneously in the regions of the brain responsible for the cognitive processes which guide social interactions and, in particular, help us to understand the emotional state of a newborn child. Some scientists have also said that these changes can reflect the innate preparation of pregnant women to establish infant bonding, but of course this affects all women differently. During my practise I’ve met mothers who didn’t plan for, and in some cases didn’t want, their pregnancies. But regardless of circumstance, as soon as