How a Mother’s Emotions Affect Her Unborn Child

Last updated: 1/9/24

Experts and evidence suggest that your thoughts—and their subsequent emotions—are shaping your body, altering your internal chemical environment, and even affecting the way you nurture your child during pregnancy. In fact, the emotional environment of both parents is critical for nurturing the unborn child. 

Contrary to the unrelenting excitement that is often the cultural expectation of expectant parents, a range of emotions is more often the reality. Pregnancy can bring a mix of feelings beyond just excitement. 

In this article, you will understand the reasons behind this emotional landscape and learn strategies to navigate your emotions during pregnancy. You will also be inspired to make emotional management part of your pregnancy & birth plan.

Emotions in Pregnancy

For better or for worse, a pregnant woman’s thoughts have a very physical connection to her unborn child. “Everything the pregnant mother feels and thinks is communicated through neurohormones to her unborn child, just as surely as are alcohol and nicotine,” says Dr. Thomas Verny whose books, professional publications, and founding of the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH) and Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health, have established him as one of the world’s leading authorities on the effects of prenatal environment on personality development.

This is why studies are now finding that depressive symptoms could have negative consequences on the development of the unborn child.

Emotions have an epigenetic effect that transfers to the next generation. One way this has been shown scientifically is via telomeres, which are the protective “bumpers” within our genetic material. Telomere length is directly correlated to health and longevity. In The Telomere Effect, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn writes how “severe stress and anxiety” can transfer from both parents, not just the mother.  “Because of direct transmission, both parents’ telomeres – at whatever length they are at the time of conception in the egg and sperm – are passed to the developing baby (a form of epigenetics)…regardless of genetics.” 

If you want to understand epigenetics in 5 simple steps, see our article: What You Need to Know about Epigenetics if You’re Pregnant, or Epigenetic Phenomena in Pregnancy.

Hormones in Pregnancy

During pregnancy, a mother’s body undergoes significant hormonal changes that can have an impact on her emotions. Similar to how the hormonal changes during menstruation or postpartum can correlate to significant mood swings, pregnancy has its hormonal swings. 

These hormonal changes are something that your body and mind are required to navigate during pregnancy. Hormones such as estrogen and progesterone rise significantly to support the pregnancy and then drop dramatically after delivery. We know, for example, that estrogen influences brain networks and functions associated with alterations in stress response, cognitive abilities, and emotional regulation, which are key features of major depressive disorder. 

After pregnancy, postpartum depression may well also be associated with hormonal swings like these.   

The reality is that hormones are legit chemical signals in your body. Reproductive-related hormonal changes are a real factor in mental health. But the reverse is also true. 

Thoughts Causing Emotions in Pregnancy

One’s mental health—thoughts—also affects the release of hormones. This is most obviously seen in the case of a stress response that causes the fight-flight-freeze-fawn response. In this case, hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are pumped through the bloodstream, affecting all cells in the body, including the gestating fetus. 

As such, anxiety and other negative emotions that are not well managed have an impact. This is true regardless of whether or not the thoughts causing the emotions stem from one’s feelings about having a baby. 

This is why medical dictionaries define emotion as both a mental and physical state. Hormones like these are indeed the physical molecules of emotion. Deepak Chopra, M.D., explicitly identifies this bridge between the mental and physical state when he writes, “Thoughts that we feel are called emotions.”

A pregnant woman’s emotions are created based on the way she perceives her:

• Pregnancy
• Baby shower plans
• Nursery decoration
• Relationships
• Work
• Health
• Literally anything

A pregnant woman’s thoughts are the precursor for her emotions. And her emotions are the precursor for the neurohormones.

“When a pregnant mother is anxious, stressed, or in a fearful state, the stress hormones released into her bloodstream cross through the placenta to the baby. Hundreds of studies have confirmed that chemicals released by the pregnant mother’s body are transported into the womb and affect the unborn baby.”

Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives
Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Negative thoughts are often the root cause of a fear-based stress response. Chopra says, “Stress activates the unborn child’s endocrine system and influences fetal brain development. Children born to mothers who had intensely stressful pregnancies are more likely to have behavioral problems later in life.” Verny says, “Studies show that mothers under extreme and constant stress are more likely to have babies who are premature, lower than average in weight, hyperactive, irritable, and colicky.”

Cell biologist and neuroscientist, Bruce Lipton, Ph.D. writes, “When passing through the placenta, the hormones of a mother experiencing chronic stress will profoundly alter the distribution of blood flow in her fetus and change the character of her developing child’s physiology.”

6 Strategies for Managing Emotions During Pregnancy

When you experience happiness, your body generates natural substances like dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins and more. 

Journal: Just as feeling bad has a negative impact, feeling good has a positive effect. Finding easy to appreciate, like in a journal, can be one of the most effective ways to gently remind yourself of what is working. Try sitting peacefully to write until you have remembered 12 things you appreciate. Along the way, identify where in your body you actually feel the appreciation; don’t just list things you “think you should be grateful for” but can’t actually feel. Although it will be different for everyone, twelve is a good number to build a positive emotional momentum.

“Positive maternal emotions have been shown to advance the health of the unborn child…Thoughts which infuse the developing baby with a sense of happiness or calm can set the stage for a balance, happy, and serene disposition throughout life.” 

Nurturing the Unborn Child
Dr. Thomas Verny

Plan for Things you Love: Consider right now the top 3-5 things, people, activities, etc. that you absolutely love. Is there a way to put these into your week, every week?  Is there a way to put some of them into your day, every day? Remember, emotional coping during pregnancy is an important part of your pregnancy & birth plan. Finding ways to schedule these into your calendar is important. 

“Without stress, your baby’s nervous system works smoothly. When you’re calm and centered, your baby is able to grow peacefully.”

Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives
Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Meditation & Mindfulness: There are countless studies proving that meditation improves emotional regulation and overall psychological well-being., There are a multitude of ways to meditate, mostly having to do with placing your attention upon something of your choosing (like upon your breathing, instead of your to-do list). However, your attention can really be placed upon anything that feels helpful, like the feeling in your body, the darkness behind your closed eyelids, the sound of the air conditioner, or of the children playing outside, etc. 

The key is that every time you notice that your attention has drifted elsewhere, you become aware and bring yourself back to your practice. With practice, what starts as minutes of distraction followed by mere moments of being present will start to evolve. Eventually, you will see that your ability to focus on your intention becomes a bit longer, while the time of your forgetfulness reduces in duration and frequency.

Mental Imagery: Research has confirmed that mental imagery is “extremely beneficial” for helping anxiety, stress, depression, and more. Mental imagery is a form of meditation, but one that is focused on imagining the future you desire. This is only beneficial if you actually believe in its possibility (and therefore legitimately feel better along the way), so be mindful of how you proceed. 

In “Nurturing the Unborn Child,” Verny suggests 47 exercises that a pregnant woman can perform throughout pregnancy. One of these is creative visualization. In a place that is free of interruptions, close your eyes and practice imagining seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling and even tasting your way into a relaxed feeling. The key is to remain open to feeling at ease. Imagine as many senses as you can, immersing yourself in the feeling. Use the richness of your imagination, and go on a daydream. If other thoughts enter your mind, patiently return to whatever helps you find relief. Depending on the day, you may even be able to start feeling really excited or other strong positive emotions. 

Exercise: During pregnancy, exercise has been shown to be both an important contributor for maternal psychological health, and specifically “useful for the prevention and reduction of prenatal depression and depressive symptoms.”, (These benefits also extend to those who exercise during postpartum.) The landmark series of studies performed by Dr. James Clapp III found an absolutely astounding array of benefits for mothers who participated in the following amount and kinds of exercise:

• 5 or more times per week
• 30-90 minute sessions
• 65-90% of maximum capacity (moderate to high-intensity)
• Weight-bearing exercise

Professional Guidance: Every human being has some form of emotional trauma that operates under the surface. And we are blind to so many of them. Some of us also have overt traumas that really need the guidance of a psychologist. There is no better time than pregnancy to take a step toward emotional health by seeking guidance from some kind of trained professional or other healthcare provider who understands emotions. Talking to a professional can assist you in recognizing the origins of your emotions, guide you in working through them, pinpoint strategies to cope with these feelings, and offer you additional techniques to effectively handle them. 

Pregnancy Mindfulness

The evidence is clear. Our society needs to hold space for pregnant mothers to incorporate mindfulness as part of their pregnancy & birth plan. Birth plans are for labor and delivery, but a pregnancy plan is for the nine months prior to that day. 

On each of those days, your thoughts will be generating your emotions, and your emotions will be affecting the chemistry within your body. For nine months of pregnancy, your body provides the environment for your growing baby. And every moment of every day is an opportunity for mindfulness. 

Practicing positive feelings will branch neurons to wire parts of your brain accordingly. The more you practice, the faster and better you can learn to retrieve the emotions of your choosing. 

“Every change in the mental emotional state, conscious or unconscious, is accompanied by an appropriate change in the physiological state.” 

Principles and Practice of Stress Management, Third Edition

3 Ways to Implement Exercise During Pregnancy with Fit For Birth

Feeling well, both physically and emotionally, are side effects of exercise. If you would like fun fitness guidance during your pregnancy, please check out these resources:

• Fit For Birth personal training offers monthly memberships for personal live 40-minute online fitness classes. You select the times that work best for your schedule. We select the exercises that are best for your goals and needs.
• Online Prenatal Courses & Programs offer pre-recorded self-assessments and exercise plans, small group training, and group assessments at more affordable prices.
• FREE Online Pregnancy and Postpartum Group Exercise Classes! These 40-minute online group classes are available to you at any time. Register now!

James Goodlatte is a Father, Holistic Health Coach, Corrective Exercise Practitioner, Speaker, Author, Professional Educator, and the founder of Fit For Birth. Since 2008, when he found out he would be a father, his passion for holistic wellness shifted to children and families. Today, he is a driving force in providing Continuing Education Credits for the pre and postnatal world, with Fit For Birth professionals in 52 countries. James is also the program director for Fit For Birth pre & postnatal personal training worldwide and is a contributing member of the First 1000 Days Initiative at the Global Wellness Institute.