The Pregnant Woman Means Less Than The Fetus

WANT TO GO ON A WILD RIDE ABOUT PREGNANCY? Well, keep on reading.

When you think about a PREGNANT woman, what are your thoughts? Do you envision a woman glowing with her hands encircling her extended rounded belly? Do you think and wonder if the little bundle of joy is a girl or a boy? Most people when they see a pregnant woman have sweet positive thoughts about baby and mommy. But there is another side of pregnancy that is never discussed.

In America, there is an ongoing discussion about ABORTION. The FETUS is center stage. The fetus's rights trumps the mother's rights. Her life is put into suspended animation, and she becomes a HOST or VESSEL for a new life. Saying a woman is a host or vessel sounds cruel and harsh. But when someone else is calling HER healthcare choices while she is pregnant, those people make her into forced vessel or host. After she gives birth, then she is SEEN once again. Negative consequences experienced DURING pregnancy comes AFTER the needs and wellbeing of the growing child.

I write about the debate regarding abortion. I look at it from many angles. Today I thought about the LIFE of a PREGNANT woman. I knew I had heard this is a time in a woman's life where she is vulnerable to domestic violence. The ABORTION debate focuses on the baby. WHO focuses on the pregnant woman?

Pregnancy can often be an especially risky period for IPV (Intimate Partner Abuse), as many women report that abuse started or intensified when they became pregnant. Each year, an estimated 324,000 pregnant people in the United States are battered by their intimate partners. Homicide is a leading cause of traumatic death for pregnant and postpartum women, accounting for 31 percent of maternal injury deaths. Women suffering from domestic violence MAY seek a medical abortion to save her life. the pregnancy can be a product of domestic violence and NOT PROMISCUITY as many believe. A woman may choose to not birth a child into domestic violence. Not wanting to see her potential child SUFFER also from abuse is a MATERNAL instinct. But people view this as cruel and can't get behind such a decision.

Abuse often gets worse during pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (also called ACOG) says that 1 in 6 abused women are first abused during pregnancy. More than 320,000 women are abused by their partners during pregnancy each year. 

Every pregnancy isn't flowers and butterflies. Those who are pro-life still maintain circumstances don't matter when it comes to the life of a child. There is no reason for a woman to MURDER a baby. This is a visceral, emotional stance. People respond and react based on emotions. On that same note, women are often depicted as OVERLY emotional during pregnancy. Their reactions are often viewed as over the top. Most often this hormone driven behavior is demonstrated by mood swings and sudden onsets of crying. People just accept it as part of being pregnant. This is also another side of pregnancy for many. Women who are taking medication for mental health disorders prior to pregnancy often have to go off their much-needed medication regulating their mental health stability. An unplanned pregnancy for a person with certain mental health disorders, pose medical problems and major decisions for the pregnant woman.

Scientist are beginning to study the brains of pregnant women. They have noticed significant changes in the pregnant BRAIN. The research is in its early stages and at this time. Positive aspects of the changing pregnant brain have been documented. One of the negative changes during pregnancy linked to changes in the brain is DEPRESSION. Even though the pregnant woman is seen as glowing, her brain may say something different. We all love the birth of a little bundle of joy. But don't realize, mommy may be going through some things whether she is aware of it or not.

A study of more than 100 new parents showed that pregnancy and birth cause changes in brain circuits that may be involved in empathy and bonding with the child. How wonderful. Will ongoing studies reveal not every woman experience this change during pregnancy? What are the consequences for the pregnant woman or even the mother after giving birth if this change in the brain's circuits do not take place?

Researchers also think some of the brain changes pregnant people undergo might prepare them not only for parenthood but for childbirth itself—by increasing pain tolerance, for example. That is an extraordinary thing in my eyes. I only believed superheroes underwent such changes. This should make one believe a woman's health care is in better hands of a physician than government restrictions with such extraordinary bodily changes.

A deeper understanding of the cellular and system-level mechanism will improve the understanding of how pregnancy remodels specific circuits to promote MATERNAL BEHAVIOUR. Pinpointing the synchronicity of gray and white matter changes that unfold in the maternal brain could be key to understanding the behavioral adaptions that emerge during and after pregnancy, such as honing the brain's visual and auditory responses to infant cues and eliciting maternal behavior. Such brain changes are linked to perinatal depression. Neuroanatomical changes observed over the course of a human pregnancy | Nature Neuroscience. Perinatal depression is a mood disorder that occurs during pregnancy and after childbirth. The symptoms can range from mild to severe.

Can you imagine a pregnant woman being given the news her unborn child may have genetic defects which will not allow it to go to full term while under the influence of brain changes already existing which cause depression? What if she was told her preexisting condition or conditions she developed while being pregnant is endangering her life under such brain changes? How much worse will this type of news be for the pregnant woman who is refused needed medical care due to government regulations while under the brain changes of pregnancy?

Science is proving a pregnant woman is more than a vehicle for carrying a baby. While being concerned for the growing child, we can't overlook the needs of the pregnant woman which have been unaddressed for centuries. SOMETIMES her medical needs REQUIRE an abortion. Pro-life supporters must know, even though a pregnant woman's body is designed to promote the development, survival, and care of a baby, changes in her brain can be a time in which she is most destressed. And when things go wrong during a pregnancy, not being able to make life-saving decisions can lay the groundwork or susceptibility to mental illness. 

No. I'm not saying that is why or a good reason to have an abortion. I'm saying the mother needs just as much attention to HER wellbeing as the developing fetus and science is just NOW acknowledging a pregnant woman's brain is no longer like it was before pregnancy. I'm saying pregnancy is a COMPLICATED and often times DANGEROUS time for a woman. 

The most noticeable changes to the study participant’s brain throughout her pregnancy was a reduction in cortical gray matter volume which persisted after birth. The majority of the outside layer of the brain consists of gray matter, which has a main job of processing information in the brain and helps control thoughts, emotions, memory, and muscle movement. This honing and fine-tuning of the material, the brain, is a process that happens early in development, again during puberty, and pregnancy probably reflects another wave of cortical refinement.

Additionally, scientists found noteworthy increases in white matterTrusted Source located deeper in the brain, which they reported peaked in the second trimester and returned to normal pre-pregnancy levels around the time of birth. About 60% of the brain consists of white matter, which connects different areas of the brain together to help with communication for focus, learning, and balancing while moving.

All of the above are the POSITIVES of the changes of the pregnant brain. But the research is in its infancy. When a woman's health care is being discussed, people should remember it is an INDIVIDUAL experience for EACH pregnant woman. People are ONLY thinking about and addressing concerns for the unborn child overlooking the mother's need for consideration. Pregnant women go through things!

In a previous post titled, Viagra Is Healthcare?, I listed reasons for a MEDICAL ABORTION. I want people to realize people are not advocating for abortions per se, but for the RIGHT to make their own health care choices during pregnancy. Not all pregnancies are the result of PROMISCUITY as Christians and men would have you believe. Things go wrong during pregnancy. Nine months is a long time where anything can happen to the pregnant woman or fetus. It is a vulnerable time with changes science has yet to understand. When looking at A+B=C (A= man, B= woman, C=fetus), we only focus on C. No one is saying anything about A, the men in the abortion debate. Pregnant women, B, lose their rights in regard to HER health. It is not A+B=C+D (D=those against women having choice in their health care). D becomes the one calling the shots for A, B, and C.

All I'm trying to say in this post is, don't forget about the pregnant woman. She may be going through something while pregnant that only her physician can help with. If ANYONE reading this post has experienced the negative, or never thought of circumstances during their pregnancy, PLEASE SHARE your story with me. People need to remember YOU in the equation of pregnancy. That you went through some things as the CONSEQUENCE of being pregnant.

Thank you in advance.

Trusted Sourcevolume, which persisted after giving birth.