If you’ve previously struggled with your mental health during pregnancy or postpartum and you’re expecting another baby, being scared it’ll happen again makes perfect sense. Your fears aren’t unfounded – research shows you are more at risk of developing perinatal anxiety or depression if you have a previous history of these conditions.
In this article, I want to explore this subject in more detail and offer plenty of reassurance. What you’ve been through in the past doesn’t define you, and your experience this time could be very different. If your mental health starts to suffer, there are resources, tools, and strategies available to help.
Why Do People Struggle with Their Mental Health During and/or After Pregnancy?
There are many reasons somebody might struggle with their mental health during or after pregnancy.
First and foremost, pregnancy, birth, and the weeks that follow are tough. Your life changes very suddenly. Caring for a newborn involves a great deal of responsibility coupled with masses of uncertainty and unpredictability. Even if you’ve done it before, the learning curve is huge, and this can be a lot for some people to cope with.
It may be that your journey to conceive has been particularly difficult. Perhaps you’ve experienced infertility, failed IVF attempts, or miscarriage. If so, it’s completely understandable that pregnancy might be a time of anxiety and worry. Read Pregnancy After Loss – How to Manage Anxiety for more on this difficult subject.
You might have been particularly poorly during your pregnancy. Perhaps you’ve experienced hyperemesis, pelvic girdle pain, or other traumatic complications that can arise within pregnancy. Going through a traumatic birth can also be a factor.
If you’ve had to cope with any other major life changes during your pregnancy or the postpartum period, this can create extra stress and put a strain on your emotional resources.
Understanding the Impact of Past Trauma
People who have ‘easy’ pregnancies and straightforward births can also have issues with their mental health.
If you had a difficult early life, you’re more likely to struggle with challenging life events as an adult. Having a baby of your own could also activate old emotional wounds. Experiencing a traumatic event of any kind shapes our views and affects our emotions. It can also affect our bodies, leading to physical sensations that impact our daily lives. It can affect our relationship with ourselves and with others, and even our relationship with our baby. It’s not uncommon for mothers to be diagnosed with postnatal depression when in fact past trauma is the root of their symptoms.
If you can relate to this, you might find the following links useful:
- Trauma and its Impact on Your Journey into Motherhood
- Is It Postnatal Depression or Childhood Trauma?
If You’re Scared It’ll Happen Again, Read This…
The good news is, nowadays, there’s more information and awareness about maternal mental health than ever before. This means you can access tailored support more easily and receive the help you need.
If things are feeling particularly difficult, there are perinatal mental health teams that can help you during your pregnancy and beyond. There are also local talking therapy services that offer things like counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for more mild to moderate difficulties.
I know the NHS provision of these services is far from perfect. There can be long waiting lists and some perinatal mental health teams have quite strict criteria in place for accessing intensive support.
This is where private therapists like me come in. If you feel you can’t wait, or you don’t quite meet the criteria needed to be accepted into the care of a specialist team, there is another pathway you can follow.
Therapy For New Mums
My approach stems from the belief that all mothers need to be held. You deserve to be listened to, and you deserve to feel seen and heard. You need to know that you matter, that your experiences and feelings are valid, and that whatever you’re struggling with doesn’t mean anything about the kind of mum you are to your children.
During therapy with me, these are the sorts of things I focus on. I also provide space for you to explore your motherhood journey, process trauma, and learn skills that can help you overcome the negative thoughts and unhelpful coping strategies that might be keeping you stuck in vicious cycles.
Nurturing You Through Motherhood
If you’re struggling with any aspect of your motherhood journey and it’s affecting your mental health, it might be time to reach out for some support. Book a consultation or subscribe to The Nurture Toolkit for free, actionable tips and prompts straight to your inbox. I also share lots of encouragement and support via Instagram.