How You Feel Matters, part 2:
How to care for your mental health during conception, pregnancy, and postpartum
Bridget Cross, LCSW, PMH-C

In part 1 of this blog, we looked at the importance of planning for your mental and emotional wellbeing as you embark on the journey toward having a baby. The first recommendation we explored was connecting with others by finding a community of social support – so important, especially during the isolation of COVID-19.

Today, we’ll focus on ways to connect with yourself as you navigate conception, pregnancy, and postpartum. So often in this season of life, I hear from women that they feel they’ve “disappeared,” like they no longer know themselves, what they think, or what they like to do. While this can be a common response to the tremendous transition into parenthood, this feeling can also increase our vulnerability to depression or other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs).

And so, my #2 suggestion: Find an activity you can do every day that is just for you.Choose something that makes you feel mentally and physically good and at peace. Choose something you can do without having to consider or care for another person. Choose something that helps you feel connected to yourself in body, mind, and spirit. Most important: know that there are no wrong choices. What you choose is totally specific to you and will not look the same for all. 

You may have an idea right away of what you want to do – if so, terrific. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, no problem. You are not alone. I’ll give you some examples of activities that have helped me or women I’ve worked with: physical exercise, yoga, creative art or crafting, reading, playing with a pet, self-massage, meditation, prayer, journaling, take an online class, singing, building or DIY projects, cooking or baking, adult coloring, talking with an old friend, gardening, listening to a podcast, dancing. 

If it feels hard to find time or space for your activity, start small. Commit to 1 minute of your activity each day and slowly try to increase to 5, 10, 30 minutes, maybe you reach an hour, maybe more. The key is: make this gesture to yourself that you will spend some amount of time each day focusing your attention exclusively on you. Spend at least a week building your activity into your regular daily routine and notice any shifts in how you feel, what you think, how your family operates, or how others respond to you. 

Time spent exploring and getting to know yourself is a necessary ingredient to mental health. When you feel more in touch with your authentic self, your emotional wellbeing is better supported. You and your family will benefit.

Stay tuned next time for part 3! And please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or feedback! You can reach me any time by email or on Facebook.  

Bridget Cross, LCSW, PMH-C

 

The next few months we plan to offer a series of blogs contributed by Bridget Cross, LCSW, PMH-C.  Bridget is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing psychotherapy & counseling for adults who face depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, LGBTQ+ issues, and relationship challenges in Savannah, Georgia.  She also provides reproductive & maternal mental health services for new, expecting, and hopeful parents. This includes pregnancy, postpartum, infertility & pregnancy/infant loss, and adoption.

How You Feel Matters:
How to care for your mental health during conception, pregnancy, and postpartum
Bridget Cross, LCSW, PMH-C

Becoming pregnant and having a baby can be one of the most exciting and joy-filled times in any parent’s life. However, it is so normal to also feel stress, sadness, fear, overwhelm, anger, or anxiety during this immense transition. 

Though these emotional responses are common, they can also sometimes put you at risk for a mental health issue called a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder (PMAD). One in 5 moms will experience a PMAD during pregnancy or postpartum (as well as 1 in 10 partners). Among BIPOC moms, that number increases to 1 in 3. PMADs such as pregnancy and postpartum depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD are considered a major public health issue. In the US, postpartum depression is the #1 complication of childbirth. 

But here’s the good news: PMADs are completely treatable. With the help of your medical provider, and a maternal mental health specialist, as well as an effective support network, you can recover and thrive. If you’re struggling or worried about how you’re feeling, please know you are not alone. There is help out there and how you feel matters. 

One of the best things you can do to prevent PMADs is to create a plan to support your mental health before you conceive. However, if you’re already pregnant or if you’ve already had your baby, don’t worry! You’ve come to the right place. It is never too late to learn about your mental health and take definitive steps to find support, connection, and nurturing as you navigate new motherhood. 

In this new weekly blog series, I’ll be highlighting some simple ideas for tuning into and supporting your mental health during this season of life. Please feel free to share and check back next week for more!

1.  Find a support group, even if you don’t feel you need it yet.  

Connecting with others who are in it with you is one of the best ways to take care of yourself as you journey through conception, pregnancy, and postpartum. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, options are limited, but a growing number of wonderful support groups are now available online: 

• Nurture Community Support is a local support group for new moms during baby’s first year. We explore topics such as health and wellness, relationships, mood changes, bonding with your baby, body image, sexuality, and more, all within a safe, non-judgmental space. Typically we meet at the Birth Center but for now we will be meeting on Zoom. Meetings resume on August 8 – register here!
• Local doula Ann Carroll of Doula Deliveries offers pregnancy yoga, parent/baby yoga classes, childbirth education, and more for families who are trying to conceive, pregnant, or in the postpartum period.
• Postpartum Support International (PSI) offers free online support groups almost every day of the week for pregnant and postpartum moms, for miscarriage and loss, for military families, for dads and partners, for NICU families, and for Black mamas.
• The Bloom Foundation offers a free support group for pregnant and new moms 2 days a week.
• Honey Space for Moms in Michigan offers many virtual groups for moms and parents of babies and kids of all ages.
• The Motherhood Center of NY offers several groups and classes for pregnant and new moms – all of which provide an opportunity for connection with other parents.
• PostpartumDads.org offers a support group for dads and partners during the perinatal period.

Stay tuned for a new suggestion next week, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or feedback! You can reach me any time by email or on Facebook.  

Bridget Cross, LCSW, PMH-C