Garbha Sanskar in the 1st Trimester

By Dhara Shah

Published Oct 15, 2023

Updated Jan 01, 2024

The first trimester of pregnancy, encompassing the initial 12 weeks, is a critical phase marked by significant embryonic development, including the formation of major organs and the start of the fetal heartbeat. During this period, women commonly experience symptoms like morning sickness, fatigue, and emotional fluctuations due to hormonal changes. It’s a time of heightened risk for miscarriage, emphasizing the importance of regular prenatal care, a balanced diet, and avoidance of harmful substances. Early ultrasounds are conducted to confirm the pregnancy and estimate the due date. This trimester sets the foundation for the rest of the pregnancy, making health and lifestyle choices crucial for both the mother’s and the baby’s well-being.

Garbha Samvad

Play calming music

Visualise your baby growing and blooming like a flower. Make a playlist of holy songs and chants. Play them as you go about your chores. If you are tempted to listen to music that is loud and harsh, remind yourself that listening to notes of classical music are giving your brain calming waves. That is producing happy hormones in your body that are crossing the placenta and reaching the baby.

Listen to Raagas

The musical notes and rhythmic cycles of Indian classical music are woven to a scientific pattern. They are based on times of the day and changing seasons. Hence, they have a special effect on the human mind.

Month 1: It is advised to listen to Yaman/Kalyani Raaga. It evokes devotion and prepares for motherhood. The most suitable time to listen is in the evening.
Month 2: listen to Todi raaga. It balances hormonal imbalance which is common in this phase. The most suitable time to listen is morning.
Month 3: Hindol Raaga should be listened to in the third month as it activates base chakra to make mothers feel less lethargic. Evenings are the best suited time to listen.

Keep the home environment happy and peaceful

Communicate well with your partner and family.

Garbha Aahar

In Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine from India, foods are categorized based on their inherent qualities and the effects they have on the body and mind. These categories align with the three fundamental energies or doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Each type of food is believed to either balance or aggravate these doshas. Here are the three types of food in Ayurveda:

Sattvik: foods are considered pure, wholesome, and nourishing. They are believed to promote mental clarity, physical health, and spiritual well-being.
Rajasic: foods are stimulating and energizing but can also be disruptive to the mind and body if consumed in excess. Over-indulgence leads to a stage of hyperactivity. These are generally sour, salty or astringent food.
Tamasic: foods are considered heavy, dull, and potentially harmful to the body and mind if eaten in large quantities. These foods are generally pungent or oily.

Sattvik foods are thought to calm and purify the mind, leading to a peaceful and meditative state. A Sattvik person is such that external ups and downs don’t affect him or her much. They have a strong focus, concentration and have a creative bent. They do not obsess with problems but look, boldly, for solutions.

As per Garbha Sanskar, Satvik food builds the above qualities in the foetus.

Diet: You need to eat something every 2 hours. This doesn’t include water or lemonade or coconut water (these three you need to be sipping all throughout the day). Milk and fruit counts. Don’t overeat or stuff yourself. Just eat often but eat healthy. No empty calories, no outside food, no junk food. Before you have it, think if it will add to your and your baby’s health or not.

Liquids: You must drink atleast 2.5 litres of water a day. No tea and no coffee for the first trimester (and more if you can) Apart from water, please drink following once a day –

Cup of milk with very little saffron, some cardamom and minimal sugar
A glass of lemonade (minimal sugar and sometimes with mint, sometimes with ginger, sometimes black pepper, sometimes strawberry, sometimes peach)
Coconut water
Cup of milk with dry fruits like figs or walnuts or almonds or pistachios

Personally, I believe in eating a whole fruit and not having fruit juice. Its too much sugar and you miss out on the healthy fiber.

Here’s month wise Diet Plan Suggestions:

Month One

Please start eating healthy when trying to conceive, and start a folic acid supplement. Women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant should get at least 400 micrograms (0.4 milligrams) of folic acid daily before conception and for at least 3 months afterward.

Month Two

On waking up: A glass of warm water with lemon juice + 2 soaked walnuts and 4 soaked almonds
Breakfast: Oats veggie chilla with coriander chutney and 1 cup of warm milk
Mid-morning: 1 citrus fruit (like orange, mosambi, kiwi, etc)
Lunch: Carrot + beetroot salad with whole wheat roti + spinach sabzi + curd
Early evening: Fistful of roasted makhana (fox nuts)
Dinner: Palak moong dal khichdi with tomato chutney

Month Three

On waking up: 2 dried figs + 4 soaked almonds + 1 cup of cumin seed water
Breakfast: Ragi dosa with coconut/ peanut chutney + 1 cup of milk
Mid-morning: 1 tender coconut water
Lunch: Mixed vegetable pulao with onion tomato raita + steamed sprouts
Early evening: 1 seasonal fruit
Dinner: Phulka with seasonal sabzi and vegetable stir fry with 4-5 cubes of paneer

A few tips for a Satvik diet in the first trimester:

Eat breakfast accompanied by porridges, cereals, boiled eggs, and dry nuts, especially almonds. Make it a point to include milk.
Have soaked raisins. Also, have almonds and pistachios.
Start the lunch with a salad made of fresh vegetables. Carrots, tomatoes, and green vegetables are a good option as they are a high source of vitamins.
Followed by wheat bread (chapatti), rice, cooked vegetables (sabzi), and pulses.
Have Vitamin C rich fruits like Gooseberries (Amla), Guava and Oranges.
Add green leafy vegetables and other vegetables to your daily diet, eat as raw in a salad (spinach with apples and walnuts OR spinach with cucumber and tomatoes and red onion.) If you dont eat it in salad, cook it very lightly as sabji or kneaded into roti atta/mixed with dosa dough.
Ghee is considered to be nourishing, unctuous and soft. It softens and strengthens the internal organs, increases Buddhi (Intelligence) and Smriti (memory). It also boosts immunity.
Have cow’s milk and curd and butter made from it.
Satvik vegetables are cabbages, Spinach, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Cauliflower, Lady fingers.
Eat 2-3 fruits everyday and they should preferably be different colour and different nutrient profile. Mix and match as you like it. Lots of Berries, Banana, Apples, Grapes, Mangoes, Custard Apple. Stay away from pineapples and papayas.
For carbohydrates, you can have wheat, red rice, unpolished rice, and barley.
For protein, pack in green gram, bengal gram, moong, peanuts, cereals. As you progress, digestion becomes an issue. I find yogurt, chaas, moong dal without and even with skin, masoor dal (not whole) all very healthy and easy to digest. If digestion becomes an issue, cut down beans esp. heavy ones like Rajma, Chole, etc. Whole moong, beans sprouted are healthy and good. Cook dal and khichdi with ghee tadka instead of oil during the pregnancy.

Garbha Yoga

Go for a small, peaceful early morning walk

Get some fresh air. Meditate. Take deep breaths. Try to always have good thoughts, to stay happy and relaxed all the time. Don’t stress about anything.

Sleep

At least 8-9 hours a day. Focus on yourself. Go to bed early and no TV or laptops.

Start with Meditation

Meditation helps in relaxation and re-centering. The investment you make in just shutting out the external world and focussing on your body is a must-do in Garbha Sanskar. It will bring you inner peace and also increase your concentration. Many studies have proven that mindfulness achieved through meditation leads to positive emotions in the mum.

How can you meditate?
Just set aside a fixed time. During that, either play calming music and visualise your baby growing and blooming like a flower. or, follow a guided meditation track. ‍Remember, only daily practice can bring about a change.

Do Abhyanga

Abhyanga simply means a head to the toe massage with warm herb-infused oil. It can be done on one’s own body. You can use warm coconut/sesame oil or look for herbs you can mix with these carrier oils. You can mix bhringraj, guduchi, tulsi, and neem (if you have excess ‘pitta’). Abhyanga is a form of self-love that gives you stability and warmth. In pregnancy, aches, pains and stiffness is common. Abhyanga is good for flexibility and increases mobility by loosening shortened, tight muscles. Abhyanga is best done at night, followed by a warm shower.