Not enjoying your Pregnancy?
You know you are meant to be preparing and looking forward to having your baby. But….. you are feeling like a fraud as you are not enjoying being pregnant, or worse you are not looking forward to being a mum at all. You have become teary and irritable easily and just feel so overwhelmed.
If you can relate to this, you may be one of 10 Australian women experiencing antenatal depression or antenatal anxiety1.
What is Antenatal Depression?
It is natural to feel tired and feel low and even moody from time to time during your pregnancy. However, if you have been having a feeling of dread, not looking forward to being a mum, overwhelmed, and feeling scared for no apparent reason for a period of at least 2 weeks, you are likely to be experiencing antenatal depression or antenatal anxiety.
Unfortunately, often women and those around them dismiss these symptoms and put them down to ‘pregnancy hormones’. If left untreated, these symptoms are likely to worsen in time and continue after your baby is born and develop Postnatal depression.
At Vida Psychology we offer a highly trained and a caring approach to help women understand their antenatal depression and/or antenatal anxiety. Learning how a mother – baby bond begins in pregnancy and what you can do to nurture that bond plays an important role in preparing for the arrival of your baby.
Our Vida Psychologists know if women’s symptoms in pregnancy are ignored, these could continue after birth and begin to experience Postnatal depression and/or Postnatal anxiety. Both these conditions can have a negative effect on you, your baby and your family. How you relate to your baby and your partner for instance could be affected if you are feeling depressed and/or anxious. Although motherhood is a wonderful experience, it also has it’s challenges. Once Depression and or Anxiety are present, these challenges can feel impossible to overcome. Women often not only question their ability to look after and provide for their baby, but also their relationships with significant others, and often have a desire to just run away. In some instances women have thoughts of harming themselves and/or their babies. This follows by a huge sense of guilt and or shame.
Make the most of your pregnancy and ensure the bond with your baby is a strong one by calling one of our Psychologists on 9328 3636
Developing The Right Treatment Plan for you
At Vida Psychology we know how you feel. We have over 17 years experience in helping parents with their antenatal depression and/or antenatal anxiety. We take time to listen how your life has been impacted by having these symptoms. This empathic listening enables us to gain a deeper understanding of the origins of your depression and/or anxiety, triggers, patterns and barriers keeping you stuck. We also examine what contributing factors could be making it worse. This then assists us in developing a tailored treatment plan especially written for you.
Reference: Deloitte Access Economics. The cost of perinatal depression in Australia Report. Post and Antenatal Depression Association 2012.