Immunity Boost While Pregnant - or Nursing
Growing a baby, as blessed as an event that it is, is hard work.
Your body happily and thankfully takes on this mystical magical task. You, as a mama to be, are full of joy (it shows!) and are doing all you can to make this pregnancy a healthy one.
But sometimes we are thrown a curveball like these turbulent times of COVID-19. These are times to be thankful and draw on your incredible inner strength.
We know, being an expectant mama can be tough on your physical and emotional self. Calm A Mama is here to offer support. We’re here to listen.
Let’s walk through this incredible journey together.
At the same time, we’ll focus on helping you channel your psychological and physical immunity to build the incredible inner strength we mentioned.
Let’s go, mamas!
Psychological immunity
How are you feeling?
How you are today depends on which trimester you are in. Are you early out of the gate and experiencing morning sickness and fatigue? Or blissfully sailing along in the middle trimester? Maybe you are in the home stretch, and your precious babe is getting heavy to carry, despite the joy in your heart.
As with pregnancy, psychological immunity can be affected by breastfeeding, too. The interruptions in the middle of the night or feeding a baby with a voracious appetite can take their toll. No matter how much you enjoy the beauty and pleasure of nursing your baby, it can be hard.
How about your emotions? Are you staying connected to those who can support you during the pandemic? Reach out to an online support group for loving care. Join a virtual pregnancy support group to rock these 9 months and beyond with others in the same situation.
Remember, you will boost your psychological immunity by not only accepting support but giving your support to others.
Along with the sense of community right now should be the joy of one’s self. Learn to meditate and take pleasure in the knowledge of your breath. Take part in online pregnancy yoga videos, and push the anxiety away. Keep your doctor or midwife updated on how you are doing with the classes, so they can advise you on the physical side of your yoga practice if necessary.
Revel in the pleasure of sleep, take the time to enjoy the simple parts of your day, and don’t stress over what you cannot control. These are steps to building your inner strength.
Emotionally, you will experience ups and downs, we’re not denying that. But we’re reassuring you that psychological immunity is possible now and at any time in your life. You’ve got this!
How are you reacting?
All of humanity seems to be wrapped up in a not-so-tidy unit of fear on most days these days. This is perfectly understandable. But there's a difference between allowing yourself to feel fear (a natural response designed to help you survive) and feeding into that fear — for example, by obsessing over the latest covid figures, compulsively watching the news, or soaking up conspiracy theories on social media.
So while it's normal to feel fear, indulging in it can be disempowering. It can make you feel like you have no control over your life — and while, to some extent, that is true, there are things that are within your control.
One of those things is your psychological immunity — or resilience in the face of chaos.
Building your psychological immunity will prevent you from getting swept up in the pandemic of fear. It also helps to build your physical immunity by reducing the effects of stress on your body (and thusly affecting your baby's responses, also).
There are a number of ways to do this, which we will expound on in a future article, or have a look here at 8 Ways to Build Psychological Immunity in Tough Times
Physical immunity
Did you know that your body naturally suppresses its immune system as a way to protect your little miracle in the womb?
Taking care of yourself physically is also essential when you are pregnant. You don’t want to welcome illness or infection, especially when you cannot take over-the-counter medications to ease the symptoms.
Support your immune system with Calm A Mama’s immune drops. They are safe for any stage of pregnancy and also ideal for keeping every member of the family healthy. With natural ingredients like flower extracts of yarrow and lemon balm, they are safe and beneficial to everyone.
Other ways to keep your immunity in shape include drinking plenty of water, ensuring adequate intake of Vitamin D (whether through time spent outside or supplementation), and giving into rest when it is needed.
Goji berries are a nutritional way to boost your physical immunity and can complement herbal drops well. Studies prove that these little powerhouse berries improve immunity and prevent free radicals from damaging DNA. They’ve got high antioxidant properties and are known to be excellent fighters against vision problems like macular degeneration. Goji berries are proven to have anti-cancer properties, too.
Doing so only shows your inner strength even more...
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Kristina is Resident Mama at Calm-a-Mama, who continues to pledge black and blue that she has loved (and continues to love) every bit of being a mama to three beautiful boys. She writes about mindfulness and everything on the mommy playbook.
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