How to cope with fears during pregnancy? Fears during pregnancy occur in many pregnant women. They are worried about thoughts: how the pregnancy is developing, how the baby is feeling, is everything formed, how is he in the uterus, is he alive, why isn’t he moving (especially if there were abortions before this pregnancy), etc.? These thoughts can influence the course of pregnancy and the emotional state of the mother. Example from practice: A patient came to see me because she was afraid for the health of the unborn child, its development, and the fear of terminating this pregnancy. I asked for help to understand myself and get rid of “obsessive thoughts.” The period was 4-5 weeks of pregnancy. From the anamnesis it turned out that before this pregnancy she had had short term abortions (spontaneous miscarriage at 5 weeks of pregnancy and a frozen pregnancy at 8 weeks of pregnancy). When working on the family genogram, it turned out that the grandmother (on the mother’s side) had abortions and the mother had medical abortions before her birth. Her own birth was an emergency (placental abruption at 7 months of pregnancy). The patient experienced fear of death, fear of the dark, fear of drowning, fear of closed spaces, etc. At the time of seeking psychological help, she was very anxious, noted tearfulness and did not know how to cope with this condition. After psychocorrection sessions (we worked with her psychological blocks and fears, self-esteem, awareness of pregnancy, communication with the baby). In the process of work, the true causes of fears were clarified, recommendations were given for working with one’s negative thoughts, etc. As a result of psychocorrectional work, the patient’s mood improved, fears went away, self-esteem increased, and a mood appeared for a calm course of pregnancy and childbirth. Example from practice: K. I asked for help with the problem of fear of miscarriage and fear for the health of the child. During the consultation, it turned out that the husband often stayed late at work and came home late. Seeing this, K. began to “work herself up”, to be afraid, to call her husband and talk about her experiences, after which he showed signs of attention to her, began to take care of her and the unborn child (talked to him). The patient calmed down. This behavior was, on her part, manipulation of her husband on an unconscious level (the reason was fear of loss - dad left the family early). Parents divorced when K. was 12 years old. My mother also had a difficult pregnancy (she was afraid of losing the child). These circumstances further intensified K’s fears. After the psychocorrection sessions, the patient’s fears went away, self-esteem increased, and relationships with her husband and mother improved. And there are quite a lot of such examples. So how can you cope with fears during pregnancy on your own? In a moment of fear, you must immediately change your body position: stand up, turn around, lie down, etc. Calming breathing technique: characterized by gradually lengthening the exhalation until it becomes twice as long as the inhalation. A pause is made after exhaling. The duration of the pause after exhalation is equal to half the inhalation, which should be lengthened proportionally in the future. Relieving muscle tension (at the moment of fear, a person is in a constrained state, so in order to relax, you first need to tense up). Do the following exercise: Tighten the muscles of the hand, squeezing forcefully fingers into a fist. Tighten the muscles of the forearm, trying to bend the hands at the wrist joint to the maximum. Tighten the muscles of the shoulders and forearms, spreading your arms out to the sides at shoulder level and bending them at the elbows. Tighten the muscles of the shoulder blades, bringing them together and pulling them down. Tighten your hips, lifting extended straight legs in a sitting position. Tighten the muscles of the lower leg, pulling the feet towards you and slightly towards each other. Tighten the muscles of the feet, bending the toes as much as possible. Exercises to help relax the muscles: place your palms on the lower ribs,.