Perinatal Mental Health

It seems we are finally catching up to the understanding that there is a need for a more inclusive term for ALL of the mental health issues that can be experienced during and after pregnancy/birth and beyond.

“postpartum depression”

is making way for the more inclusive term:

In an age of social media, filtered photos, and curated news feeds it can sometimes feel like you are the only one who is falling apart while trying to build and grow a family. It can also feel like a harsh wake up call when pregnancy, birth/delivery, and becoming a new parent are very different from what you expected. For some, this starts before pregnancy. For others, unexpected complications during pregnancy and/or birth can trigger high levels of anxiety, and even trauma.

Some experiences include:

High risk pregnancy, pregnancy complications, delivery that does not go as planned (emergency c-section/ use of medical interventions that you were hoping to avoid/ etc), medical complications for baby, medical complications for birthing persons, not consenting to medical interventions, NICU for baby, ICU for birthing persons, “near miss” for baby and/or birthing person, and even loss.

Some birthing people feel their experience wasn’t “bad enough” to need support, and that they should just be thankful that it wasn’t worse. It’s OK to ask for support, and nobody gets to define what your experience was like except for YOU. It’s healthy to validate and process the very real experiences of fear, pain, loss, trauma, etc. that you have gone through.

If you feel like you may benefit from talking to a counselor about what you are going through (or went through) please fill out the form below to schedule a complementary 15 minute phone consultation to see if you feel I can help.