Motherhood is not only a biological process, it is also a psychological crisis during which childhood conflicts are reactivated, testing the emotional maturity of the woman, her identity and the vivid relationship with her own mother. Pregnancy brings the woman into contact with emotions that often manifest themselves in intense and contradictory ways.
Identification with the mother influences how the pregnancy develops. If daughters have had mothers who are not very fearful, they show less anxiety. On the other hand, mothers who complained of pain and fear tend to show similar manifestations to their own mothers.
From the beginning of gestation, the woman’s mood tends to manifest hypersensitivity, which is shown both at the physical level (through the senses) and at the psychological level, through the emotions. There is a correlation between mental processes and somatic manifestations.
Coderch affirms: “Maternity is possibly the human situation where there is the greatest interrelation between the psychic and the somatic, with reciprocal reverberation between one and the other aspect”.
During pregnancy, psychic processes are mobilized and generate somatic manifestations. The following symptoms are quite frequent, especially in the first months of pregnancy: vertigo, nausea, palpitations, vomiting, etc.
What emotions does a woman feel during pregnancy?
Each trimester of pregnancy has certain characteristics related to the mother’s emotions:
- In the first trimester, feelings of excitement and anxiety predominate, and concerns are usually related to the fear of miscarriage and the health of the fetus.
- In the second trimester, the perception of fetal movements predominates, which increases the sense of reality around gestation. Concern is focused on the good growth of the baby and the fear of malformations.
- In the third trimester there is a great concern for the baby’s health and the responsibility of being a mother. There is a desire to materialize the birth but, at the same time, the feeling of fear of the moment of delivery intensifies.
Although psychosomatic disturbances are frequent during gestation, the psychobiological transformation of pregnancy can determine the disappearance of the disorders that have appeared.
Factors influencing women’s emotions during pregnancy
The woman’s historical background and the context in which she finds herself influence her emotions during pregnancy. Mood oscillations are also related to the process of adaptation to a new reality, which generates anxieties, insecurities and worries.
There are reactions of adjustment to the transitory situation with: lability, pessimism, concern for health, somatic complaints, etc. Likewise, there is also a feeling of sadness due to the loss of the previous state, independence and personal attractiveness and, at the same time, there is a tendency to increase the woman’s self-esteem, who experiences pregnancy as an enrichment. In general, pregnancy brings many changes, everything is more intense for the woman, it creates illusions but also anguish. This causes the woman to experience ambivalence due to the wealth of feelings that emerge, which provokes a feeling of bewilderment.
Effects of emotions during pregnancy
Helene Deutsch explains how a state of introversion manifests itself with an abstracted attitude and a constant feeling of sleepiness. She explains this phenomenon as a deviation of the psychic energies that were focused outside, towards the interior of the pregnant woman. This introversion can distress the pregnant woman, because she does not feel interested in day-to-day activities.
What has been described so far, in principle, is transitory, and is subject to the development of the pregnancy, it is frequent and evolves during the gestation period. It is also an opportunity for psychological growth for the woman. It must be kept in mind that pregnancy can favor a vital psychological maturation.
If the symptomatology manifested by the woman interferes in the adaptation to her condition and the hypersensitivity is so intense, psychotherapy with a psychologist may be necessary. This intervention should also be understood as something preventive for the newborn, since it will help the mother to be in better conditions to take care of it.
During pregnancy, the woman experiences a psychological crisis. This can be expressed through different moods or physical manifestations. This crisis represents an opportunity for psychological growth during which the woman may emerge stronger but may not, and may need psychotherapeutic help.