Preparing for Conception: The Role Your Nervous System Plays

Our bodies are incredible self-healing organisms when given the proper circumstances and environment.  The abundance of stress that we encounter in our daily lives, however, can compromise our body’s ability to perform, heal, adapt, grow, and restore.  Thankfully, we have been discovering more about the nervous system, the vagus nerve, and how to effectively influence the tone of our nervous system to promote self-regulation and healing.

According to the polyvagal theory, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) represents an hierarchical system of evolutionary responses to perceived stress.  The ANS is not limited to the paired antagonistic systems of parasympathetic and sympathetic.  We are designed to be operating in health, growth, and restoration 80% of the time, while the other 20% is reserved for perceived stressful situation.  Our nervous system is meant to flow back and forth between these two states with ease.  Sometimes it gets overloaded though and can get stuck in the stress response, stuck in fight, flight, or freeze.  

The social engagement system which sits at the top of the hierarchy, is responsible for breath, heartbeat, facial expression and voice.  As mammals, we use this branch to help us find community and safety within that space.  It helps us survive.  Facial expressions are the one thing that is universal across all languages and cultures.  We can communicate with facial expressions to help us find that safety in any situation - or to recognize when something is a perceived threat and are then able to take action accordingly.  

If danger is detected, the sympathetic nervous system is activated.  The flight response or our desire to get out of the situation quickly is engaged first.  This can look like someone not knowing how to commit in relationship or having an aversion to conflict, so they run away.  If that isn't an option, we fight to defend - with words or fists.  The sympathetic branch rules mobilization, torso, and limbs.  If neither flight nor fight brings us back to safety, or if the situation escalates and a life threat is perceived, we move into the parasympathetics - ruled by immobilization.  This is where we see the freeze response which includes fainting, dissociation, and shock.

As stated before, our nervous system is meant to flow back and forth between health and stress states with ease with the goal of getting us back to feeling safe as quickly and smoothly as possible.  We have different responses based on if we feel safe versus when we do not feel safe.  If we're getting stuck in the stress, we usually have some perceived resistance.  Our body remembers and keeps the score on when we go through traumatic events (big or small) or avoid fully feeling an emotion.  Sometimes we can encounter triggers that bring past events to the surface because our body is recognizing that a situation may be similar, putting us right back to that fight, flight, or freeze response we had the first time when this pattern was created.  It's up to us then, to become an observer of these instances so we can regain control over our emotional body and nervous system.  In this new observer role, we want to be looking at the situation from a different perspective and drop the charged emotion to be able to look at the situation more objectively.  It can sometimes be challenging to learn this new way, so give yourself grace and have patience while you take steps to become the observer and see the situation differently.  Having this mindset shift can be really powerful in helping you find safety within your body, within your relationships, and within your community. 

Feeling safe within your body is a huge proponent to conceiving, carrying, and birthing another human into this world.  The more resilient and adaptable you become before conceiving, the greater the range your nervous system will have, and the more you will be able to walk into any situation and be able to surrender and adapt as needed.  Something that is definitely required during this magical time of conceiving, carrying, and birthing another human!

Stress can come in many different shapes and forms!  We mostly think of emotional stressors when we think of stress, though physical and chemical stressors can also play a large part in our stress response and thus nervous system function.  Emotional stress can be losing a job, moving, relationship woes, in-laws visiting, or stuffed down emotions that we've put off from feeling.  Physical stressors include macro events like a car accident, falling down the stairs, or a sports injury; and micro events like sitting at your desk all day.  Chemical stressors include pollutants in the air, fragrances and other harmful chemicals in perfumes and household products, processed foods, and medication.  

If our body is struggling to get back into the health, growth, and restorative state it wants to be in, it will create interferences within your nervous system, potentially leading to further health problems.  These interferences are what we would call a subluxation in the chiropractic world.  When subluxations are present, our perception of external and internal events becomes altered leading to altered body function... i.e. dis-ease within the body due to the heightened level of stress and stress related hormones that have a negative cascade effect on the body's ability to adapt, grow, heal, and restore.

Because the mother's nervous system acts as a blueprint for what baby's nervous system will look like, we want to be mindful of how the nervous system is functioning and adapting prior to conception.  The brain and neural tube of baby forms first, so the underlying tone of mom's nervous system at the time of conception will determine the tone of baby's nervous system.  If mom has a perceived threat in her environment at this time, her nervous system will adapt and down-regulate the ANS, moving away from growth, digestion, and repair.  That is not the ideal environment for conception or for the baby's growth and development.  If the tone of the nervous system is of high threat at the start (conception) for the baby, the vagal tone will continue to be on high alert causing baby to have altered visual and auditory processing and integrating abilities.

When we are preparing for conception, we are choosing to live with intention and in alignment with our body, mind, and spirit to consciously bring new life into this world.  It's truly a beautiful miracle that we can make choices to help set our children up for success in their health and well-being. With baby perceiving the world through the lens of the mother, women have more opportunity to influence how that is done.  In the blog post - Tips for Regulating Your Autonomic Nervous System, I share some of the best tools to manage the stressors of life so that you can become a more adaptable human and conceive your little miracle with less stress and greater ease.