Trust Your Instincts: Why Listening to Your Body Can Save Lives

Pregnancy heightens your awareness of your body in ways that are difficult to describe until you’re living it. A flutter that feels different, a headache that nags in an unfamiliar way, a sense that something just isn’t sitting right, these moments can be easy to brush off, especially when life is busy or when you’ve been told, “It’s probably nothing.”

But time and again, we hear from parents who found themselves in exactly that moment, unsure, hesitant, but instinctively aware that something wasn’t right, and who acted because they’d read the clear, simple guidance on their MAMA Academy Wellbeing Wallet.

These aren’t dramatic situations at the beginning. They often start quietly.

A parent notices reduced movements and thinks, “It was fine last time… should I go in again?”
Another has rib pain late in pregnancy that feels unusual but hasn’t been mentioned before.
Someone wakes with a puffy face after weeks of normal swelling and wonders whether it’s worth mentioning.
A persistent headache nags during a workday, easy enough to blame on tiredness.
Or a symptom is brought up at an appointment but dismissed as nothing to worry about.

What makes the difference in these stories is not fear, it’s clarity.
And that’s why our Wellbeing Wallet’s message is intentionally simple:
If you’re worried, call.
If something feels different, get checked.
You will never waste anyone’s time.

For one family, this message was the reason they went back to hospital for reduced movement, even after several previous checks had been reassuring. Their daughter was delivered by emergency caesarean after staff discovered she was in distress, a situation her parents say might not have been recognised in time if they hadn’t listened to that instinct one more time.

Another parent described rib pain they didn’t realise could signal pre-eclampsia. They had never been told to look out for it, but our Wellbeing Wallet had. That single moment of recognition and a phone call to the maternity unit led to life-saving treatment for both them and their baby.

In several testimonials, people describe symptoms they assumed were “normal pregnancy things”: swelling after weeks of swelling, itching that felt inconvenient but hardly alarming, headaches that could easily be chalked up to stress, movement changes they hoped would right themselves. The difference came when the Wellbeing Wallet helped them connect those symptoms with something important. They trusted what their body was saying, and acted early.

One parent put it simply:
“I never thought those symptoms would affect me… until they did.”

What stands out across all these stories is not fear or panic, but agency.
Parents weren’t just reacting, they were making informed decisions and advocating for themselves, even in moments of uncertainty. Some even described how the wallet gave them the confidence to question being dismissed, or to request reassessment when something didn’t feel right. That confidence mattered.

And so did the timing.

Pregnancy comes with an enormous amount of noise opinions, expectations, comparisons, and “shoulds”. But your instincts cut through that noise. They are grounded in your lived experience, your connection to your body, and your growing connection with your baby.

The information on the Wellbeing Wallet doesn’t create those instincts, it strengthens them.
It gives shape to the sense that something isn’t right.
It turns hesitation into action.
And in many families’ stories, it turns uncertainty into safety.

If there is one thread woven through every testimonial we receive, it is this:
“I acted because the wallet told me it was okay to act.”

And that is the heart of safer pregnancy.
Not fear.
Not second-guessing.
Simply recognising when something feels different, and trusting yourself enough to pick up the phone.

Because you know your body best.
And listening to it can save lives.