Pregnancy and childbirth are usually seen as a special time in the life of most women. But sometimes, instead of feeling excited and joyful, many women find themselves dealing with low mood and anxiety.
This is not surprising as pregnancy is a time of significant psychological adjustment as the mother adapts to physical changes and emotionally prepares themselves to take on a new role to nurture a new life.
1.1 Risk factors
1.2 When does this happen
1.3 Symptoms of depression & anxiety
If you’re having symptoms of depression or anxiety for most days up to 2 weeks, or if you’ve difficulties functioning in your daily life, you should seek help so that you can continue to care for yourself and your loved ones.
More about perinatal anxiety disorder.
Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale questionnaire (questionnaire and scoring method to be provided separately)
More about managing stress.
3.1 Re-wiring our thoughts: Building up mental resilience
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is one common method that is used to assist people who might be experiencing low moods and symptoms of anxiety. Sometimes our thoughts are not always helpful and there can be negative patterns that cause us to feel stuck. CBT helps to recognise these negative patterns and then ‘re-frame’ these thoughts to change the way we feel. One method is to spot the ‘distortion’ in our thoughts. There are many thought distortions that can happen every day. By recognising and changing some of these negative patterns, mood and anxiety symptoms can be improved.
Below are some common distortions that might apply to the way you feel and some ways to overcome them:
3.2 Helplines and other resources
References
1. Kee MZL, Ponmudi S, Phua DY, et al. Preconception origins of perinatal maternal mental health. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2021 Jan 23. doi: 10.1007/s00737-020-01096-y.
2. Staneva A, Bogossian F, Pritchard M, et al. The effects of maternal depression, anxiety, and perceived stress during pregnancy on preterm birth: A systematic review. Women Birth. 2015;28:179-93. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2015.02.003
3. Barnes J, Theule J. Maternal depression and infant attachment security: A meta-analysis. Infant Ment Health J. 2019;40:817-834. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21812.
4. Qiu A, Rifkin-Graboi A, Chen H, et al. Maternal anxiety and infants' hippocampal development: timing matters. Transl Psychiatry. 2013;3:e306. doi: 10.1038/tp.2013.79.
5. Wen DJ, Poh JS, Ni SN, et al. Influences of prenatal and postnatal maternal depression on amygdala volume and microstructure in young children. Transl Psychiatry. 2017;7:e1103. doi: 10.1038/tp.2017.74.
6. Law EC, Aishworiya R, Cai S, et al. Income disparity in school readiness and the mediating role of perinatal maternal mental health: a longitudinal birth cohort study. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2021;30:e6. doi: 10.1017/S204579602000102X.
Subscribe to our mailing list to get the updates to your email inbox...
