by Lars Rasputin

Created on: July 26, 2010

Many people across the world have a love affair with chocolate. It makes one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and for some, when you take a bit into a Hershey's bar, or some chocolate cake, perhaps a brownie, all their worries melt away. This isn't surprising, as chocolate itself is a natural anti-depressant, releasing immense quantities of endorphins into the brain, increasing the level of serotonin. 

When a woman is going through the stages of pregnancy, stress is at its peak. They have the basic worry about the overall health and well-fair of their incubating child, as well as a plethora of outside sources. You have doctors telling you to do this, eat that, and avoid this like the plague. You have family members bickering over what the best method for delivering is, or telling you what you should include in the newborns diet once delivered. Among other things, you have the nagging self esteem issues related to carrying a bun in the oven. 

Stress is a horrible thing for anyone to go through, especially for a woman who is carrying a child. A study found that  17 weeks and after conception, prolonged and high levels of stress can effect the development of the brain within a child. It was also found that during and after the 17th week, the level of cortisol within the mothers blood and the amniotic fluid where connected, cortisol being the hormone our body releases when under stress or pressure.

With this, it is far more imperative to keep you stress level down, for your sake and the babies. A good way to naturally decrease your stress, or to at least take your mind off it momentarily, is to consume a little bit of chocolate, especially dark or raw chocolate. Theobromine, the chemical in cocoa that tastes bitter, is known to keep blood pressure steady. Also, a Yale study suggests that eating chocolate reduces the risk of pre-eclampsia, a condition of hypertension. Chocolate is very high in magnesium, which relaxes muscles and decreases blood pressure, which in itself is a god send to delivering a baby.

In 2004, researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland did a study with around 300 pregnant women to rate their stress levels and rate of chocolate consumption. Half a year after birth, the mothers came back and had to log their young ones behavior within a few categories, including soothability and fear. The babies of mothers who had eaten chocolate daily during pregnancy had a more happier disposition and were more open to new situations.

The consumption of chocolate has shown health benefits all across the board, however, to woman with budding children within them, it is far more beneficial, to the mother herself, but more so the child. For the mother, it will create a more pleasant attitude, helping one cope with the innumerable stresses. For the baby, chocolate will increase the odds of having a more happy, open baby, as well having a less likely hood of mental defects. 

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