No one ever tells you that becoming a Mom is this hard. And if they did it is hard to believe it!

But it is natural for women to experience changes in their feelings and mood during pregnancy and after birth. Commonly known as the “baby blues”, 80% of new Moms often describe feeling more tired, irritable, worried, and having moments of sad moods and periodic, unexplainable crying. The “baby blues” usually last for a couple of weeks and most often these symptoms lessen as hormones begin to balance out.

But did you know that 15%-20% of women have mood symptoms, including persistent sadness, helplessness, guilt, fatigue, intense anxiety, worry, and fear that persists long enough to require treatment by a health provider? In addition to perinatal mood disorders, many women experience trauma and loss during pregnancy and birth due to complicated births, infertility, and pregnancy loss.

You are not alone, it is treatable and with help, you will get well! There are effective and well-researched treatment options to help you recover.

At WHCP we have therapists who have been through this journey and who have specialized training in Maternal Mental Health. We are here to support you.

Consider the symptoms below, as any of these may indicate that you are struggling with a form of perinatal mood disorder, including postpartum anxiety or depression. Perinatal mood disorders are related to mood and anxiety symptoms that occur during pregnancy or up to one year postpartum and often longer when treatment is delayed.

Do you feel sad and depressed?

Are you more irritable or angry with those around you?

Do you feel distant or that you are having difficulty bonding with your baby?

Do you feel anxious, panicky, or worried all the time?

Are you having problems with eating or sleeping?

Are you having upsetting and intrusive thoughts that you can’t get out of your mind?

Do you feel as if you are “out of control” or “going crazy”?

Do you feel like you never should have become a mother or that you are not good enough in this role?

Are you worried that you might hurt your baby or yourself?es here

Many women have a variety of mood symptoms in the aftermath of delivery. 50-85% of women feel Postpartum Blues or “Baby Blues” for a short time, usually 1-3 weeks after delivery. Common symptoms of “Baby Blues” can be mood instability, depressed mood, weepiness, sadness, irritability, anxiety, lack of concentration and feelings of dependency. These symptoms are often self-limited and are to be distinguished from a more severe condition often called Postpartum Depression (PPD) which is more intense and has a longer duration of symptoms. Postpartum Depression typically develops over the first 2-3 months after childbirth but may occur at any point after delivery.

Symptoms of Postpartum Depression

Feeling sad, depressed, and/or crying a lot

Irritability

Intense anxiety

Having intrusive scary thoughts, ruminations, and obsessions (See Postpartum Anxiety Disorders below)

Loss of interest in usual activities

Feeling numb, lack of feelings for the baby, not looking forward to the future

Feeling alone

Feeling ashamed

Feelings of guilt, worthlessness or incompetence (this has a lot to do with a woman feeling that her symptoms are evidence of her worth as a mother)

Fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbance

Change in appetite

Poor concentration

Excessive worry about baby’s health

Suicidal thoughtss here

Postpartum anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder appear to be as common as postpartum depression and even coincide with depression.

Symptoms of Perinatal Anxiety

Panic attacks

Hyperventilation

Excessive worry

Restless sleep

Repeated thoughts or images of frightening things happening to the baby

Infertility occurs in 10-15% of couples of reproductive age. Struggling to have a child can be traumatic and a complicated grief process. There are no road maps and people often don’t talk about it so individuals and couples are often left feeling that something is fundamentally wrong with them and very alone. Moving through this grief and loss can bring on a “life crisis” that can tax a couple’s existing problem-solving resources as a couple and as an individual causing intense sadness, depression, anxiety, grief and trauma.n goes here

MIscarriage is a traumatic loss. It is a loss of the pregnancy and the hopes and dreams that accompany that pregnancy. While miscarriage is common, many women and their partners grieve alone and studies suggest that 15 % of women who have a miscarriage experience anxiety and depression during and after pregnancies for up to three years. Counseling in one-to-one sessions or in a group with others who have experienced a similar loss can help sort through the complicated emotions and grief that accompany this painful loss.