Does Baby Bump Size Matters?

After finding you are pregnant and during your regular visit to your doctor, this might be a term the doctor will tell you after measuring and sizing up your belly.  ‘The baby inside you is small for dates.’ This can upset and make you worry.   Many pregnant women particularly first timers would be so conscious in observing how their bumps grow.  It was a natural feeling and observation that many pregnant mothers go into this phase.  Many are so eager and excitedly overwhelmed to see their bump grows and feel secured that their baby is really growing inside.  In fact many excited mothers would sport and capture every moments with their baby bumps.  By going into baby bump progression photoshoots, these women would like to immortalize every growth that was happening not only to their body but most especially to the thriving life inside their belly bump. 

But should you be alarmed if you see just a small bump in your belly?  Will the shape of your bump depend on how much nutrition and food you eat to nourish your baby? Or maybe it was because you have a thin body and slender body that your baby bump was likewise sexy? Maybe it’s something to do with the genes, the hormones, the chromosomes, a birth defect etc. etc. etc…

Stop, before you think further more! You’ll just tire yourself thinking about illogical things.  

The fact is that the size of your bump will in no way indicate your baby’s specific health condition. Do remember that babies come in varied sizes and no one, not even your doctor can predict how exactly big or small they will be once they come out of your womb.   Below are some pointers on the different myths that some people will say about your baby bump.  You might want to ponder in order to understand as you observe and relate it to your experience as you grow that little bundle of joy inside your bump. 

MYTH#1:  Low bumps are prone to miscarriages and early deliveries.



FACT:  Do remember that pregnancy bumps will only reveal itself in your body once you are on your second trimester.  This is largely due to the fact that the uterus is most likely hidden behind a woman’s pubic bone.  A bump appearing during this pregnancy phase can sometimes be construed as the bloating usually that usually appears during early pregnancies.  It can also happen to women due to the laxity of their ab muscles from a previous recent pregnancy term.

MYTH #2:  Carrying position can tell the sex of your baby. Some people believed that if the mother’s belly is positioned high, it was a baby girl she carries, otherwise the opposite low positioning of the mother’s belly indicate a baby boy inside.

FACT:  Muscle flexibility, body anatomy and symmetry are most likely the reason why pregnant women carry their baby high or low.  But it was a good indicator that pregnant women especially in the early terms of their pregnancy carry their belly high for good and safe positioning.  But if a woman has a slender or tall anatomy, they normally have narrow pregnant bellies. In contrast, shorter women project their baby bump wider due to their symmetry.

MYTH  #3:  Linea nigra indicates the gender of your baby.

FACT:  Linea nigra is that vertical dark color line that appears running up your belly.  It normally appears to dark skinned pregnant women as a result of the changes happening in her hormones. But such line will eventually disappear and fade after pregnancy.

MYTH #4:  The protruding belly button indicates weight and gender of the baby.

FACT:    Pregnancy involves a lot of changes in a woman’s body.  And during your term, your body adjust to the growing life inside you. You gain weight due to the nourishment you and your baby need.  Fluids will also retain in your body particularly in your belly area. And as your uterus expands, your belly button likewise adjusts and protrudes.  Thus your innie belly button turns into an outie. For first timers, they will most likely to have a tight belly whereas succeeding pregnancies will turn the belly muscles more lax for bigger belly pregnancies and the baby to have with much space to move and spread.  Belly sizes also adjust more for women carrying multiple babies in their womb.  Thus, size and shape are not really accurate indicator of the baby’s weight, gender or sex.  It is therefore an old adage and a misconception that, ‘Bigger baby bumps denote big baby inside.’

MYTH #5:  Shape can indicate gender of baby.  The old adage goes something like this:  Baby bump that shapes more like a watermelon indicates the baby was a girl, whereas a bump that resembles like the shape of a basketball was a boy.  Again, there are several reasons that rule out the shape of your baby bump.  Muscles and skin in a mother’s belly generally follow the shape of the fetus inside.  Our body anatomy plays a great role in shaping our muscles, flesh and tissues.  During pregnancy, a woman’s body greatly adjust to the growing fetus inside the womb.  And aside from the fetus, hormonal changes, along with the needed sustenance of fluid, substances and nutrients took toll in shaping the flesh, muscles, tissues and bones in the belly area.  Over the term of a woman’s pregnancy, these were the most likely determinants that can make the baby bump take it shape and not because of the baby’s gender.

MYTH #6:  Positioning can tell the sex of the baby.  The old adage goes something like this:  If a pregnant woman carries her baby high, the baby inside is a girl, otherwise, a low baby bump indicates a baby boy inside.



FACT:  Again, anatomy, muscle laxity and tissue build up as well as body symmetry plays a major role on how the baby bump will be carried by a pregnant woman.  Usually, taller women projects narrow-like bellies whereas, the bellies of shorter pregnant women tend to look and carry their baby bump narrower in symmetry.

The joy of having your precious one.

There are a wide array of myths and beliefs about baby bumps and those relating with pregnancies.  Some are really so funny and ridiculous just to hear about them but the best thing was that these myths seemed to be more of celebrating the excitement brought by pregnancy and the joy of the celebrating the coming of your very precious one.  That baby bump was a proof of your being a complete woman and one of your foremost purposes here on earth.  Having a baby is a woman’s fate and destiny.  Developing and carrying a bump in your belly that thrives, breathe and feels is the most ecstatic experience of all.  Many have tried having one but only a few were chosen.  That baby bump was something to celebrate for and must be proudly shown and flaunted for it was an achievement and privilege to carry a life in this world. The size of how your belly have become during the term of your pregnancy was just a welcome change that mothers like you is more than willing to undergo in order to give the needed space to the most important one thriving in your womb.

Hypnobirthing: Empowering the Childbirth Experience

Childbirth was a woman’s greatest fear!

The thought of death during delivery was due to the fact that many women have died while giving birth or that they worry that their child will suffer pain during the process.  Well, what kind of mother are you if you do not worry about how your child will survive the ordeal?  If by history and fact you knew in your mind that many women have died giving birth, how would you think will it be for your beloved child that you are about to bring to this world?  How do you keep such ill thoughts out of your mind? Of all the birth techniques and methods introduced to women during the childbirth process, Hypnobirthing has been the most fascinating childbirth experience that most women who were administered with the method have that safe, most peaceful and easy child delivery.

Hypnobirthing to most women who have undergone the method does not only highlight the important role in bringing out a child in this world.  Remember that childbirth is a milestone in your life that many women are NOT capable of.  Hypnobirthing will significantly help boost your strength and confidence in bringing out a life that will complete your essence as a woman and a mother.  Hypnobirthing will teach you to naturally harness your instincts and empower you as a woman in bringing out the most precious one in your life, your child

Hey Mommy!

Pregnant?  Are you expecting?

Is childbirth a scary thing?

Do you imagine yourself birthing and delivery like those mothers freaking and shrieking at the sight of those anesthetic needles? Do you worry you will be screaming due to painful contractions during delivery?

Worry no more! There’s nothing to be afraid of for childbirth need not be as painful and dreadful as how you have envisioned it. In fact, childbirth really was supposed to be a joyful celebration and the beginning of your nurturing love and affection to your most precious child. And to carry out this significant milestone in your life, Healthtree would like to be with you as you journey through the path of bringing your most precious one into this world.  Healthtree will be your partner in learning more about peaceful and easy birthing techniques and methods.

Allow us to introduce to you the way on how to achieve a peaceful and easy childbirth method called Hypnobirthing.

The dawning of easy and less fearful childbirth.

In the 1920s, English obstetrician Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, after careful observation of women giving birth theorized that there was really no such thing as childbirth pain during delivery of a child by a woman. For Dr. Dick-Read it was basically just a cycle of manageable fear, tension and pain a woman can handle given the right motivation and self empowerment.  Dr. Dick-Read later termed this fear as the Fear-tension-pain Syndrome. Picking up from the lessons and learnings of Dr. Grantly Dick-Read was Dr. Michelle Leclaire O'Neill who introduced Hypnobirthing in 1987. Another practitioner and supporter of Dr. Dick-Read’s theories was Marie Mongan who developed and popularized her own version of Hypnobirthing technique based on her own worriless pain childbirth experience. And since then, the practice was blown into proportion and quickly spread in the four corners of the world.

Popular Childbirth Fears

Through time and history on the experience of childbirthing process, the long rhetorics on the cycle of fear and pain are two of the most popular factors highly associated with mothers during childbirth. Below are some of the most popular dilemma of mothers during childbirth.

Fear-tension-pain Syndrome of Childbirth.   A phenomenon theorized by English obstetrician Dr. Grantly Dick-Read in the 1920s upon observation  that the fear in giving birth creates tension to a woman that increases the childbirth pain cycle making the birth canal dysfunctional eventually obstructing what he believed as a naturally smooth and manageable process of child birthing. Some of the other popular factors that give rise to the fear a woman may experience during childbirth are listed below:

Fear of death.  Due to the long history of deaths relating to childbirth, it became almost synonymous to death of either the mother or the child creating that fear syndrome around it.

Fear of anesthetics malfunction.  More than 50% of women giving birth in a medical facility are given epidural anesthesia to manage contraction pains during labor.  Like any other aesthetics, epidurals are designed to block certain nerve impulses causing numbness from the lower spinal portion in the lower part of the body.  The worst fear of malfunction in the effect of epidural making the body paralyzed was a highly thought factor for most women in labor.

Fear of genital tearing.  The thought of having an unbecoming episiotomy after delivery was a worrying fear by woman after childbirth. For these women, the thought of the unbecoming appearance of what’s down there matters and less pleasing to their husband or partner.    

Fear of humiliation.  Disgusting things like pooping, peeing, puking and oozing blood might occur but they simply are just but part of the tension and pressures being undergone by a woman giving birth. Vanity need not be strictly observed and can be manageably handled during such situations.

To overcome these dilemma, mothers must learn how to properly handle their fear factors for the sake of the child to come into this world in a calm and less painful delivery.

Harnessing your Inner Strength.
In today’s modern application of natural birthing, Hypnobirthing was a proven and efficient childbirth program developed to teach lessons about the correct and proper way of relaxing, breathing and visualizing for a safe, comfortable and easy birth. Harnessing your inner strength to overcome the fear and pain was the key to experience an empowered childbirth experience. Hypnobirthing uses the following integrated techniques in the program to efficiently carry out the process of birthing and overcome those childbirth woes and harnessing your strengths in achieving a safe, peaceful and easy delivery.
Your body.  As a woman, do remember that your body was designed to give birth. You must know by now that you have successfully grown a child in your womb and miraculously carry it for several months. So, if your body allow its growth, your body definitely knows how to bring it out and give you your little bundle of joy. As theorized by Dr. Dick-Read, the fear that can be felt can be harnessed to filter the blood away from the uterus which can be used by the muscles to escape from dangerous instances within.  This will in turn deplete the uterus without oxygen making it pain free. Simply put, if you will be able to get rid of your fear, the uterus can function normally without the risk of pain.  It is therefore essential that you focus on how your body functions during childbirth
Deep Breathing Techniques.  One way to relax the muscles was to take deep breaths. In Hypnobirthing, you will be able to learn the correct way and techniques of taking deep breaths that releases tensions from the uterus allowing you to manage your stress and pain during the birth process.  It is essential to observe your breathing patterns to manage better oxygen supply for you and your baby.  Ample abdominal breathings will help you cope with the pressure of sensations felt during the surges.

Family Role. Hypnobirthing was a family centered program. It encourages and allow the husband or an immediate family member as your birthing partner during the process.  The role of the birthing partner was integrated into the Hypnobirthing program.  It can significantly bring the feeling of security to calm you during the process.

Childbirth Hypnosis. Often misconstrued as hypnosis mantras but they were not and are actually self-motivational phrases of positivism called ‘birth affirmations’ meant to make you relax, stay calm and visualize positive inspirations that can help you manage the fear and pain associated with childbirth.

Birth Affirmations. These are motivational insights or phrases used in Hypnobirthing as an aid to inspire positivism and help you to manage the pain and fear. An ideal birth affirmation must be composed using mindful and positive words and phrases that resonates your being to help you ease your physical, mental and emotional faculties during childbirth. You may even close your eyes to achieve a more meditative or concentrative state. Below was an example of a short birth affirmation:

“I am a woman of strength and courage.

I can feel the overwhelming love of the people around me

With these overflowing love around us

Me and my baby deserve a safe and peaceful birthing experience.”

 

Every day, babies are born in every corner of the world and Hypnobirthing has gained increasing popularity and chosen by millions of birthing women due to its most ideal way of bringing babies into this world. Not only does Hypnobirthing offers the safest, peaceful and easier childbirth program but essentially highlights the woman’s most important role of bringing a human life into this world.