How can you boost your baby’s brain development during pregnancy?
Want to give your baby the best start? Discover 5 easy pregnancy tips to help your baby grow smarter. Simple steps, big results—let’s make your baby’s future bright!
1. Eat Brain-Boosting Foods
Let’s start with Nutrition. It’s no surprise that what you eat greatly impacts your baby’s brain development, helping to create a smarter baby. So, what are the top foods for brain growth? Focus on healthy fats, along with a wide variety of fruits and veggies. Incorporate omega-3-rich foods like salmon and walnuts, as well as antioxidant-packed berries and leafy greens. These nutrients are crucial for building your baby’s brain cells and shielding them from damage.
Healthy Fats are an essential part of a pregnant woman’s diet, playing a critical role in the development of the baby’s brain and other vital organs. However, it’s important to focus on the right types of fats to support both maternal health and the baby’s growth.
Omega-6 and Omega-3 are both essential fats that your body needs but can’t produce on its own. The key difference lies in their roles and sources:
- Omega-3:
- Role: Supports brain development, reduces inflammation, and is crucial during pregnancy.
- Sources: Fatty fish (like salmon), flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts.
- Omega-6:
- Role: Helps with brain function and cell growth but can cause inflammation if you eat too much.
- Sources: Vegetable oils (like sunflower and corn oil), nuts, and seeds.
For a healthy balance, it’s important to eat more Omega-3-rich foods and not too many Omega-6s to avoid excessive inflammation. Researchers at Harvard found that increasing your intake of DHA, a type of Omega-3 fatty acid, by 1 gram per day can boost your child’s IQ by an average of 1.3 points. This effect is most pronounced when high levels of Omega-3s are paired with low levels of Omega-6s, as Omega-6s can interfere with the synthesis of Omega-3s. In simple terms, if you’re taking an Omega-3 supplement but consuming a diet high in Omega-6 oils, the supplement may not be very effective. This imbalance is believed to be why infants whose mothers have a high Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio in their diets are twice as likely to experience developmental delays.
The best source of Omega-3s or DHA is fish. To help ensure a smarter baby, you need to consume 1 gram of DHA per day, which typically equates to one serving of fish daily—more than most people usually eat. Additionally, be cautious about mercury in fish, as it can negatively impact your baby’s brain development and lower IQ. So, what’s a pregnant woman to do? Opt for fish that are high in Omega-3s but low in mercury. Use this chart to guide your choices.
It shows how different fish rank in terms of mercury content versus DHA. The fish in the top right quadrant, such as herring, sardines, and salmon, are the best choices because they are high in DHA and low in mercury. Eating a can of sardines a few times a week can significantly boost your Omega-3 intake and contribute to a smarter baby with minimal mercury exposure. If daily fish consumption isn’t feasible, consider a supplement made from small, oily, low-mercury fish like herring.
Antioxidants are crucial for pregnant women as they help protect both mother and baby from oxidative stress and support overall health. To enhance your baby’s brain development and make your baby smart, aim to include a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet each week. Many of us tend to stick to a routine of just 10 to 15 types of produce—like apples, bananas, lettuce, and tomatoes.
However, diversifying your fruit and veggie intake boosts the number of antioxidants in your system. These antioxidants support healthy brain development for both you and your baby, contributing to a smarter, healthier start for your little one.
2. Stay Physically Active
Staying active during pregnancy is crucial not only for your own health but also for how to make your baby smart. Engaging in moderate exercise, such as walking, swimming, or prenatal yoga, enhances blood flow to your baby, delivering more oxygen and nutrients that support brain development, contributing to a smarter baby. Additionally, exercise releases feel-good endorphins and helps reduce stress, which is highly beneficial for both you and your baby’s brain. My encouragement is to move your body every day while respecting its new limits. It’s important to recognize that your capacity for exercise may change during pregnancy, but staying active remains essential.
“In my regular life, I could walk forever. However, when I was pregnant, I decided to walk from downtown to my home, which normally wouldn’t have been a problem. But halfway through, I started cramping up and had to sit on a bench. My body was clearly telling me to stop, and I couldn’t continue. I had to call my husband to come pick me up, which made me feel weak and frustrated. It was a tough experience psychologically because I was used to feeling fit and strong.
To maintain my sanity, I had to adjust my expectations and be kinder to myself. Listening to your body when it’s giving you signals—whether whispering or talking—is crucial. Don’t wait until it’s screaming at you. Finding the right balance of movement is important; too little can leave you feeling sore and irritable, but too much can have the same effect.”
Prenatal yoga is an excellent choice for staying active during pregnancy because it encourages mindful movement, helping you remain active while respecting your body’s changing needs. Additionally, joining a local prenatal yoga class can be a great way to build community and connect with other expectant mothers. If you can’t attend a class, you can still benefit from my prenatal yoga playlist and join me on the mat anytime. Practicing prenatal yoga is one of the best ways to support your baby’s brain development and learn how to make your baby smart, contributing to a smarter baby overall.
3. Engage in Conversation and Read Aloud
Talking to your baby and reading aloud can significantly enhance their brain development, contributing to how to make your baby smart and leading to a smarter baby overall—even if it feels a bit awkward at first! Although your baby can’t understand the words yet, the rhythm and melody of your voice stimulate their auditory senses and support early language development.
Researchers from the University of Washington found that babies start absorbing language while still in the womb and can differentiate between their mother’s tongue and foreign languages by birth. Similarly, a team of medical anthropologists at the University of Würzburg observed that newborns cried with intonation patterns characteristic of their parents’ native language. This shows that your baby is listening closely.
Especially during the last trimester, babies are tuning into your conversations, which helps seed their language development even before birth. So, pick up your favorite children’s book and start reading to your little one. It may feel a bit strange, but studies show that infants will stop and listen to stories they’ve heard repeatedly during pregnancy.
4. Get Enough Rest
Growing a baby from scratch requires a tremendous amount of energy, making rest and recovery essential for both you and your baby. You might have noticed that you need more sleep now than before. It’s important to give yourself permission to go to bed early or sleep in later. Getting enough sleep is crucial for your baby’s brain development and how to make your baby smart, contributing to a smarter baby overall.
During sleep and those important rest periods throughout the day, your body regenerates and repairs itself, which is vital for a healthy pregnancy. Aim for 8-10 hours of sleep per night, and try to take short rest periods every 90 minutes during the day.
Are you familiar with your ultradian rhythm? Understanding and aligning with your ultradian rhythms can help manage energy levels and improve overall well-being. For instance, taking short breaks or naps aligned with your natural energy peaks can enhance productivity and reduce fatigue.
Incorporating breaks and rest periods into your daily routine according to your ultradian rhythms can support a more balanced and energized day, contributing to better health during pregnancy. Check this video where I share all the energy-boosting details!
Remember, a well-rested mom means a well-rested baby, ready to grow and develop. To ensure you get the rest you need, create a calming bedtime routine. You might find my prenatal yoga stretching routine helpful for easing sore hips and improving your sleep.
5. Practice Relaxation to Reduce Stress
Chronic stress can negatively impact your baby’s brain development, which is crucial in understanding how to make your baby smart and ensuring a smarter baby. Especially in the last trimester, your body constantly sends signals to your baby about what the outside world is like. High levels of stress in moms signal to the baby that the world is dangerous, encouraging the development of a stronger fight-or-flight response. This heightened response is often correlated with increased anxiety throughout the child’s life.
On the other hand, when you feel relaxed, it signals to your baby that the world is a safe place, stimulating other areas of the brain to develop. It’s as if, during every pregnancy, the DNA is asking, “Do we need to prepare for defense, or can we focus on intelligence?” When you relax, you activate genes that lead to improved developmental outcomes.
Relaxation techniques like mindfulness and meditation reduce stress hormone levels, leading to changes in DNA patterns. This process turns on genes that create a more favorable environment in the womb, supporting optimal brain development for your baby.
Research shows that children born to mothers who practiced relaxation techniques during pregnancy are less likely to develop anxiety, depression, and other stress-related disorders. These children may also exhibit better cognitive development and higher IQ scores, thanks to the supportive intrauterine environment created by maternal relaxation.
Therefore, it’s crucial to find ways to relax and manage stress—whether through meditation, journaling, prenatal massages, strong social connections, or deep breathing exercises. Keeping stress levels low helps create the optimal environment for your baby’s growth and development.
Actionable step: Take a few minutes each day to practice mindfulness and deep breathing to help support your baby’s brain development and set the foundation for a smarter baby.
To make this journey even easier, I’ve created a special gift for you: Mellow Mornings for Pregnancy—a 5-minute self-care practice to start your day feeling calm and centered. It’s designed to help you relax, which is essential for your baby’s brain development and how to make your baby smart, leading to a smarter baby.
As a bonus, I’ve also created guided meditations just for you. It includes special ways to connect with your baby prenatally, strengthening that all-important bond. It also features meditations for reducing anxiety, deep relaxation, easing emotions, bonding with your baby, and much more- available for free on YouTube!
Remember, a healthy and happy mom is key to a healthy and happy baby, and that’s also how to make your baby smart, ensuring a smarter baby.
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