Thoughts that can overwhelm us as new mothers:

‘I feel like I am on an emotional roller coaster.’

‘I feel like crying all the time.’

‘I think my baby hates me.’

‘My baby will be better off without me.’

‘I don’t feel connected to my baby.’

‘I have thoughts I might harm my baby.’

‘I CAN’T DO THIS!!!!’

Pre-Birth and After-Birth

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders can manifest in many ways and can occur anytime from conception through two years after delivery. Postpartum depression often looks like overwhelming anxiety.

Women may experience deep sadness, crying spells, disruptions in sleep and appetite. In some cases, they feel emotionally detached from their infant and describe the sensation of going through the motions without an affectionate connection to their infant. They have powerful feelings of inadequacy, which in many cases, leaves new mothers unable to cope and/or terrified of being left alone with the baby, believing that they won’t know how to care for their crying infant.

BABY BLUES? Or something more?

Giving birth is one of the greatest joys a woman can experience; it may also be a big adjustment.

While mood changes are a normal part of hormonal, physical, and emotional adjustments after birth, pregnancy and childbirth (baby blues), if they are lasting beyond a one-to-three-week period, you may be experiencing postpartum depression or anxiety.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious condition. Without treatment, it can continue for more than a year and may interfere with your ability to parent effectively. It may affect your bond with your child, which can affect the child’s long-term physical, emotional, and developmental health.

Seeking help from your health care provider and a trained therapist will help you get through this period of adjustment, so you can enjoy motherhood.

You are not alone

PPD affects 1 in 5 moms (20% of postpartum women), but the good news is it is treatable. Perinatal and postpartum mood disorders are responsive to treatment through psychotherapy, and, if needed, medication. Seek treatment and don’t let it rob you of the joys of motherhood.

Mothers with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Some women with perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder may have scary and intrusive thoughts, including images of hurting their children. These are very disturbing to them, and they often take steps to avoid those outcomes.

These thoughts are followed by compulsive behaviors intended to relieve the anxiety induced by these repetitive and intrusive thoughts. Much of the time, these obsessive behaviors revolve around checking, counting, and concerns about cleanliness and hygiene.

Seeking help from your health care provider and a trained therapist will help you get through this period of adjustment, so you can enjoy motherhood.

What does the treatment look like?

My first goal in working with moms suffering from postpartum depression or anxiety, or both, is to reduce their symptoms.

Therapy for PPD involves looking at sleep patterns, nutrition, support, hydration, and exercise so that a mom can do whatever is within her control to help herself to feel better.

Moms who are depressed or anxious also tend to engage in thought patterns that are destructive and that ultimately add to her feelings of distress.

Because of this, therapy treatment for PPD involves Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and a look at self-talk. Cognitive distortions such as fortune telling, catastrophic thinking, discounting coping skills, all-or-nothing thinking, overestimating the threat, ‘what if’ statements, and ‘should’ are interfering with a mom’s ability to feel good. CBT can have a positive impact on reversing this way of thinking.

Grieving your loss

I also work with women who have experienced pregnancy loss (miscarriage, stillbirth, or termination), early infant loss or other neonatal loss. After any of these losses, many women (and their partners) experience sadness, shock, anxiety, anger, isolation and difficulty eating or sleeping.

Complicating factors can include lack of recognition of the loss by others, hormonal changes that are a part of any postpartum recovery, previous unacknowledged losses and concerns about future pregnancies or decisions about having children.

Becoming a parent

In addition, I work with individuals around the emotional aspects of becoming a parent. The process of parenting or considering becoming a parent may awaken old issues that cause pain and confusion due to your own childhood experiences. This is also an opportunity to reevaluate and better understand old patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. Deciding to become a parent is not a small undertaking.

Therapy to support you

I provide a safe, supportive environment for women to heal and recover from mood changes that can occur during pregnancy, miscarriage, loss of a baby, birth, and postpartum. I am trained in this subject and have also experienced some of the same challenges that allow me to understand what my clients are going through.

Now is the time to reach out to a caring therapist, who is knowledgeable about perinatal depression and anxiety, and other related issues, and who can help you get through this time of crisis.

Don’t continue to suffer alone. You deserve to be healthy and happy, and your baby needs a healthy mom to thrive. If you have experienced a loss, you need time to grieve and heal. Reach out now, as help is available. Call me to set up a free 15-minute phone consultation or fill out the contact form below.