Easing Coronavirus anxiety in pregnancy
I am thinking of you all.
These are unpredictable, unprecedented and challenging times and it’s no wonder most of us are experiencing anxiety in some form or another as we find our way through this new ‘normal.’ It feels anything but that.
For you in your pregnancy, these times are especially challenging.
I have been in touch with many women I’ve taught who are trying to adapt and cope. It’s not easy. I’m thinking about how this might be impacting on you and your family. About the thoughts running through your mind. I hope that you are feeling OK.
I am wondering if you’re finding the guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (as I write on the 20th March) reassuring. I hope so.
Currently the guidance states that there is no evidence that pregnant women are more likely to contract coronavirus than the general population, nor that pregnant women who get this infection are more at risk of serious complications than any other healthy individuals. The evidence is limited, but good news nonetheless.
Although hopefully reassuring, I understand that being placed in a ‘vulnerable’ group can be a source of worry, as can thoughts about what this might mean for your place of birth and midwifery care, and want to acknowledge that it is normal to feel worried.
Coronavirus and its impact is not something any of us can ‘solve,’ but we can help each other and get through it together. There are things we can’t do, but we can choose to focus on what we CAN do.
You are capable of riding this out, calming your nervous system, finding your own way of managing well and staying connected with your beautiful baby inside you.
I’ve written this note in the hope it might help with that.
What can be done to manage and reduce anxiety during pregnancy. For you, and your baby.
Keeping your mind and body healthy, building up your resilience and focusing on easing the stress and tension is key. Here you’ll find tips for:
- Mental wellbeing
o How to use your hypnobirthing practice
o Anchors to deal with uncertainty
o What’s not wrong?
- Physical wellbeing
o Movement
o Food
o Sleep
Hypnobirthing practice
Now more than ever, the hypnobirthing tools and techniques for you to practice at home are vital. You will have plenty of time to practice your relaxation scripts in bed in the morning or evening, in the bath or whilst sitting on an exercise/birth ball.
As well as your core relaxations, you can also find the Hypnobirthing Place Relaxation for Kindness, Compassion and flexibility here. These are qualities we all need to cultivate further over the coming weeks.
Remember also, relaxations can be 20 seconds long. Over the next few days and weeks use your ‘Up Breathing’… Taking 3 deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth, longer on the out breath, whenever you feel stressed.
Create a sanctuary at home - cocooning!
Instead of ‘self-isolating’, Women’s Institute is advocating the term ‘cocooning,’ which sounds much more appealing and an excellent way to reframe it.
If you are going to be at home a lot, it might as well be a lovely place to be.
Put up positive affirmations for pregnancy and birth (you can download the ones I’ve designed for free and make your own).
Put up visuals of your favourite Up and Down breathing imagery (e.g. sunrise, waterfall), along with photos from holidays and other pictures that make you happy.
Home birth prep
If you are planning a home birth, spend extra time making the room you want to be in a wonderful relaxing place to be. Fairy lights, low lamps, plants, pictures and affirmations on the walls and of course space for the birth pool if needed.
Look after your mental health
Your mental wellbeing is key to your physical health and that of your baby too. Finding ways to stay calm and centred will help you respond to external challenges.
Focus your attention on doing things that help you feel better during your pregnancy.
Along with Hypnobirthing, here are some ideas.
1. Anchors to manage the uncertainty
We’re wired to be uncomfortable with uncertainty, but it’s obviously where we are right now.
To help you bring in some sense of control, it can be really useful to have some rituals that keep you ANCHORED.
Doing the same thing each day creates a grounding experience.
This can afford some stability when things around you are not.
These anchors can be factored in at the same time daily if possible. They can be anything that makes you feel calm and/or happy. Stress reduction techniques like meditation, yoga and getting out into nature each day are ideal.
You’ll have your own ideas, but some potential sources for these anchors:
Meditation app like Insight Timer which I use a lot
Hypnobirthing practice daily
Stretching each time you wait for the kettle to boil
Having a creative project on the go… whatever is right for you…
Things to help you find your centre will help you feel better prepared to tackle whatever comes your way.
2. WHAT’S NOT WRONG?
When you’re worrying about the future, it’s useful to remind yourself of what’s OK right NOW, and what you’re grateful for at this present time.
But if even that feels like too much of a leap right now, try thinking about ‘what’s not wrong’ when you wake up in the morning.
Think of at least 3 things.
3. Journaling to bring objectivity to your thoughts
Journaling is a brilliant way to give yourself some perspective and avoid getting lost in a mind spiralling with worries. 2 possible ways of doing it:
- Keep a notebook on you and write down the worries as and when they arise - along with any good things that are happening, so you can start to keep track of your internal dialogue and catch thoughts and emotions as they come
- If you prefer a more structured approach, keep a journal by your bed and write in it in the morning or evening or both. Much better than lying in bed checking the news!
Look after your physical health
Staying safe by washing your hands more often and social distancing are givens. But what else?
For body (and mind) getting out into nature is especially vital and with plenty of space between you and others,
As well as getting out into the fresh air, you can also make the most of your time at home with:
- Pregnancy yoga online, such as Lucyflow which comes highly recommended
- Cooking lovely food. Some nutritious comfort food recipes here
On the subject of food… A tip for keeping fruit and veg fresh in your fridge for up to 4x longer: Fresh Pod – I’ve just bought one for the princely price of £14 for a year’s worth.
A few extra tips
Choose information sources carefully
If you are getting news on the feed on your phone, be careful that you are not drawn in by ‘click bait’ headlines designed to grab your attention and raise your heart rate. Use trusted sources such as the BBC and The Guardian.
Protect your evening to sleep well
The more disrupted your sleep is by worry, the more this will negatively impact on your physical and mental wellbeing. So help yourself sleep better.
You can choose to make the evening sacred time for yourself and your baby, the time you get to put aside everything and just be.
Give yourself at least 1 hour (ideally 90 minutes) before sleep for positive input into your mind and body to help yourself sleep well.
Resist the temptation to look at the news before bed. It’s not worth the restless night that might follow.
And things always seem brighter in the morning!
For practical tips to help you create a positive feel-good evening routine, please see blogpost on reducing pregnancy insomnia.
Remember how resourceful you already are
If you think of yourself as a worrier at this time, remember you are also calm, resourceful, kind and generous and lots of other things.
Use this time as an opportunity to tune into those sides of yourself, especially when the worrier in you is jabbering away at 10pm, when it's time to say goodnight to it and welcome the nurturing side of yourself.
Most importantly, give yourself lots of love.
Please get in touch with me if there is anything in particular I can do for you or if you just want to touch base.
I may not be able to do hypnobirthing classes face to face, but the phone and Skype/Zoom are our friends in this strange time.
I will soon be uploading a free hypnobirthing relaxation specifically designed to help ease anxiety around the coronavirus so please look out for that.
I want to end by saying that today is the Spring Equinox. From this point onwards, days will be longer than nights.
It’s the earliest spring equinox in 124 years. Perhaps nature knows we need it.
Please take care of yourselves and each other. We’ll get through this together.
Sending love,
Zoe x
Spring ducklings in St James’s Park