Perinatal and postpartum anxiety

Perinatal and postpartum anxiety.  (Notes from the podcast episode with this title)

Women are always worried during pregnancies, and one of the reasons is that we are surrounded by mountains of information from everywhere, some of which might not be true and can feel scary. But common sense goes a long way.

When we feel concerned or anxious, this may affect the baby and our emotional health. However, medical professionals maintain that the best way of keeping in control and feeling peaceful about pregnancy and birth is to establish a foundation with appropriate nutrition and exercise, rest and sleep.

Obviously if we spend time reading horror stories and focusing on what is going to go wrong, we well intensify feelings of fears about pregnancy and birth.

A certain level of upset and intense options in pregnancy is common in most people: crying for no reason, wanting to shut down, becoming irritated quicker than usual, experiencing new emotions.

If anxiety or depression creep in and affect our daily life, that is the time to approach a therapist to resolve concerns. This is especially true if we get intrusive images or ideations about harming the baby into our mind. Research shows that this can happen to some pregnant women, but it doesn’t mean that we are actually planning to harm anyone. 

Dr. Sarah Oreck, who is a Reproductive psychiatrist, explains in a MedCircle video that as long as we feel horrified by these negative thoughts, all is fine and we are not delusional people who will take any negative actions. However if this happens at the same time when we don’t want to leave the bed all day, it’s better to check with a doctor what’s going on.

At times anxiety feels overwhelming and makes us feel like we are going to die, we are having a heart attack while these are panic attacks which are physical manifestations of this anxiety. 

What is normal anxiety in pregnancy and afterwards? Wanting to take care of the baby, checking if the baby is ok. If normal life cannot resume because we cannot bear to leave the child to anyone, our functions stop, then we need help. 

80% of mums seem to experience baby blues for a couple of weeks after giving birth. 

In the 3rd trimester we may have several triggers: the baby is moving more powerfully but also he has less space to do so, so he moves less and we might worry. The day when we will give birth is getting closer and so are our worries about pain. 

Some concerns also build up about how our life is about to change, which paediatrician to choose and so on. The problem is when our normal concerns become racing thoughts, and we can’t concentrate or breathe well. We might feel heat or a stomach sickness, agitation or even anger. When the adrenaline comes in pushed by the anxiety our body may tense up. The fact is that during pregnancies we are constantly checking if everything is okay and we are utilising all our senses at maximum capacity. We notice and enhance the smallest problems, overthink about simple stuff, and experience looping thoughts that we can’t stop.

Luckily there are ways of dealing with these situations. 

I hope you are not surprised to hear that one of the best things to remember is that taking care of our baby does not mean to neglect our own well being - quite the contrary.  So, start with taking care of yourself and listening to what your body is telling you. Maybe you need to be calmed, rebalanced or soothed. Relaxation, mediation, yoga classes, massage, walking in the nature, good books, writing in a journal can help.

We are all independent and want to do everything on our own but this might be a good point when we ask for help from colleagues and family, or to professionals. All we need to do is being specific on our needs to avoid more frustration and wasted time. We want to find out which tools we will need (mentally, spiritually etc) to take care of ourselves and the baby when he is born.

While anxiety can get us distracted from normal life and focused on what can go badly, being grateful and enjoying each moment can counter act this problem. Our brain cannot focus on two things at the same time.

So take some time to ponder how you can lower your pregnancy or postpartum anxiety. Feel free to reach me for any questions! Send an email or contact me for an informal chat on Calendly.com/franzsidney

#anxiety #birthanxiety #hypnobirth