Pregnancy
Hello, soon-to-be mum! We know you want to ensure the healthy growth of your baby and that’s why we have written about a very important and often neglected aspect of pregnancy: the mother’s thoughts and emotions.
This must be a very exciting time for you. I am sure you are taking care of your health, consuming all nutritious foods essential for the growth of your baby, doing your physical exercises regularly, all to welcome a healthy and happy child in the world.
Along with a good physical health, you shouldn’t miss on this important thing. As a mother, you also need to have positive thoughts, for a healthier growth of your child!
Experts and studies suggest that positive thoughts of a mother and a healthy environment can shape the body of the baby and nurture it during pregnancy.
So how are your emotions connected to your baby in the womb?
According to research, soon after conception a level of consciousness exists in the embryo. As the fetus develops, its subconscious stores information to prepare it for its mother’s environment.
By the sixth month, your child can hear and move in rhythm to your voice. Imagine the difference in influence this has if you sing happily or yell in anger.
The unborn child adapts and perceives a lot of things from the external world while it is still in the womb.
Even the Hindu scriptures speak of this phenomenon, through its various epics.
Abhimanyu and the Chakravyuha
This is the story of Abhimanyu, the courageous son of the great Arjuna, from the Mahabharata. Lord Krishna was Abhimanyu’s maternal uncle. He used to narrate his adventures to amuse his sister Subhadra, when she was pregnant.
One such time, Krishna was narrating his experience with the technique of breaking Chakravyuha, which is a military formation, effectively used for defence at the battlefield. While Krishna was narrating this technique to Subhadra, she fell asleep. Seeing that she was taking a sweet nap, Krishna stopped narrating the secret to exit the Chakravyuha and left it midway.
This whole time, Abhimanyu, was listening to the story in his mother’s womb, and he carefully preserved the technique in his memory. Sadly, Abhimanyu could only hear as much as Krishna narrated, which was about half of the technique.
Years later, during the Mahabharata war, Abhimanyu was faced by this Chakravyuha in a war with the Kauravas. Although he entered it successfully, he couldn’t exit it without the complete knowledge of the technique. Nevertheless, he attempted to break through, and eventually met his end.
While this is an extreme example, it highlights the importance of how the healthy mental growth of a baby begins even before it is born, while still in its mother’s womb. Recent scientific findings prove that babies can indeed hear from inside their mother.
Let us look at another example that tells us what a child learns and perceives from the mother’s womb.
Ashtavakra sage
The story of Ashtavakra is narrated in the Ramayana.
A sage named Uddalaka had a disciple named Kahola. Uddalaka offered his daughter Sujata in marriage to Kahola. After a few years, Sujata became pregnant. During her pregnancy, Sujata spent good amount of time in the ashram with her father and Kahola.
The child in her womb therefore learned many Vedas and Vedic mantras. One day Kahola was reciting Vedic Mantras at night. His baby who was still in the womb, said that he was making eight errors in each Vedic mantra.
Kahola was enraged by this and he cursed the child to be born with eight deformed body parts (feet, knees, hands, chest and head). Because of his deformities Uddalaka named him Ashtavakra. Later, he grew up to be wise man and his curse was lifted because of his sound knowledge about the Vedas.
The stories in its simplest forms tell us that pregnant mom’s thoughts and the surrounding environment are physically connected to her unborn child.
Effects on the child’s nature and behaviour
Dr. Thomas Verny who is one of the world’s leading authorities on the effects of prenatal environment on personality development says that, “Everything the pregnant mother feels and thinks is communicated through neurohormones to her unborn child, just as surely as are alcohol and nicotine,”
“Studies show that mothers under extreme and constant stress are more likely to have premature babies, lower than average in weight, hyperactive, irritable, and colicky.”
On the contrary, thoughts which fill the growing baby with a sense of happiness or calm builds a ground for the child’s balanced, happy, and serene nature throughout life.
Theosophical perspective
School of theosophy tells us that before your child’s physical body is even shaped, its etheric body is formed. The natural forces build the baby’s etheric body into which the newborn’s physical body will be built.
We have an entire Module dedicated to birth which talks about the formation of the child’s etheric body before birth.
The mother’s body supplies the etheric matter for the infant body. That is why, for the formation of a strong etheric body it is important for the mother to consume the best materials when pregnant.
Besides, the thoughts of the mother and the other thought-forms that float around her have a major impact on the growth of the child. Therefore, having a peaceful and calm mind has a positive impact on the baby. You now realize why pregnancy is indeed a very crucial time for a child’s mental and physical development.
Whether you’re planning a baby or expecting one, we sincerely hope this blog helped you in taking a step further in caring for your little one to come. Do share it with your dear ones who are going through pregnancy blues or are concerned about it. Drop a comment and let us know your views on it!
References:
1. https://www.the-open-mind.com/your-thoughts-their-effect-on-your-unborn-baby-2/
2. https://www.nhsf.org.uk/2005/12/mahabharata-abhimanyu-and-the-chakra-vyuha/
3. http://globalpress.hinduismnow.org/magazine/the-story-of-ashtavakra-and-his-father-kahola/
4. https://getfitforbirth.com/a-mothers-emotions-affect-her-unborn-child/
