Prenatal and Postnatal Baby Care Detail Guidance Plan

Author: Ye Gaofeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Pre-pregnancy Detail Guidance on Calculating Due Date
The due date is the estimated day the baby will be born. It is usually calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period before pregnancy to the 280th day. Why 280 days? According to research, the likelihood of a human baby being born 266 days after the egg is released and fertilized in the mother's body is the highest. For women with a 28-day menstrual cycle, most ovulate on the 14th day of their cycle. Adding these two periods together gives 280 days. Calculated by the Gregorian calendar, 280 days is equivalent to 9 months and 7 days. Therefore, to determine the baby's birth date, you can add 9 (or subtract 3) to the month of the last menstrual period to get the month, and add 7 to the day of the last menstrual period to get the date. For example, if the first day of the last menstrual period is March 18th, 3 + 9 = 12 (month), and 18 + 7 = 25 (date), making the due date December 25th. If the menstrual cycle is longer than 28 days, you need to add the extra days to the calculated date (for irregular cycles, use the average number of days). If you don't know the date of the last menstrual period, if pregnancy occurs during lactation before menstruation returns, or if the menstrual cycle is irregular, you can use ultrasound to determine the size of the fetus to estimate the due date.
Psychological Preparation
Nine months of pregnancy, and the baby is ready to be born. The moment of delivery is upon us. Many people lack understanding of the delivery process and struggle to imagine how such a large baby can be born. Some rumors exaggerate the pain of delivery, making many expectant mothers even more fearful. Understanding the entire process of delivery can help eliminate fear. Strictly speaking, delivery involves some pain, but this pain is generally manageable. Some literary works portray delivery as extremely painful or even cruel, creating fear among many. Additionally, descriptions of delivery pain from experienced mothers can make some expectant mothers anxious and fearful when they think about giving birth. Without psychological burdens, labor progresses more smoothly. However, with heavy psychological burdens, not only can labor become difficult or prolonged, but postpartum hemorrhage may also occur. Of course, delivery involves the cervix dilating to allow the baby to pass, so pain is unavoidable. But this pain varies from person to person—some feel little pain, while others experience more. Delivery should never be seen as unbearable pain. The contractions during delivery are a natural process and are fundamentally different from pain caused by injury or illness. Pain perception is controlled by the cerebral cortex and central nervous system. If an expectant mother feels anxious, the central nervous system becomes highly sensitive, intensifying the pain. When thinking about giving birth, anxiety and fear can make the pain worse. Therefore, it is essential to overcome the psychological barrier of fear and maintain a calm mindset. The more relaxed the mind, the less intense the pain.
A Calm Approach to Delivery
For the human body, relaxation leads to muscle relaxation, while tension tightens muscles. As a woman, marriage and childbirth are inevitable. Delivery involves the baby passing through a narrow birth canal. If the mother remains calm and relaxed, allowing muscles and the pelvis to loosen, the baby can pass more easily, resulting in a faster delivery. If the mother is extremely tense and burdened, her muscles will tighten, making cervical dilation difficult and hindering the baby's passage. This can lead to more intense pain, difficult or prolonged labor, and even postpartum hemorrhage. In extreme cases, a normally developed baby may suddenly suffocate due to tense contractions, causing greater suffering.
There was a case of a mother who was deeply afraid of delivery and was extremely tense before labor. During delivery, she screamed uncontrollably and refused to follow the midwife's instructions, even crying and yelling so loudly that she contaminated the sterilized birthing area. Despite the medical staff's repeated reassurances, she paid no heed. At the critical moment of the baby's head emerging, she even tore herself away from the medical staff's protection and forced herself to sit up. Her reckless action led to the sudden suffocation and death of a full-term, normally developed male infant. Although she regretted it deeply afterward, it was too late to change anything. In fact, her baby's position, heart rate, and pelvic condition were all favorable for a normal delivery. If she had overcome her fear and cooperated closely with the medical staff, she could have delivered naturally. This case clearly shows that many instances of difficult labor, stillbirths, and postpartum hemorrhage, causing unnecessary suffering for both mother and baby, stem from the mother's fear of delivery.
Therefore, the mother's psychological state before delivery is closely related to the pain experienced during labor. Severe pain can often be self-inflicted. Understanding the delivery process in detail is the key to effectively overcoming fear. The fear of delivery not only endangers the lives of both mother and baby but also negatively affects the mother's postpartum recovery. In recent years, a postpartum neurosis has emerged, a consequence of psychological fear before delivery. Additionally, extreme nervousness during labor can lead to difficult deliveries, severe postpartum hemorrhage, slower recovery, and various infections. In reality, pregnancy is not an illness, and delivery is not an extremely painful event. With proper psychological preparation, most women can safely navigate the delivery and postpartum recovery.
A mother's mental state is influenced by external factors, but it is entirely controllable and can be adjusted continuously. In truth, the pain is merely discomfort caused by contractions. If one aims to give birth to a healthy, intelligent child, sometimes medical miracles can occur. Many mothers with disabilities (not due to genetic factors) have overcome their challenges to deliver normal babies. For example, a woman whose husband passed away early in her pregnancy was later diagnosed with cancer at six months. Despite these hardships, she strongly desired to have a child. Perhaps the fetus sensed her intense wish and cooperated perfectly! When the time came, she indeed gave birth to a healthy baby.
This example demonstrates the immense and unpredictable power of the human mind. When a mother understands that contractions are a normal process that helps the baby pass, she will no longer fear delivery. With this mindset, the waiting period will be less stressful, and she can adopt a "whatever comes, comes" attitude. By learning about the delivery process in advance and preparing for how to cooperate with medical staff if any abnormalities arise, the mother can better manage discomfort before delivery and promote faster postpartum recovery. Evidence shows that mothers who are psychologically prepared experience a much smoother delivery compared to those who are not.
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