When becoming a new mother for the first time or even becoming a mother after having several children, the experience can be overwhelming, and even upsetting, and frightening, as you transition into motherhood or caring for more than one child. The hormonal changes that take place in a woman’s body during pregnancy and after birth can send you on an emotional roller coaster.
For some women, a morning run, a healthy diet, and receiving help and support from family and friends are sufficient enough to get through the initial adjustment period. For others, talking to a therapist who specializes in dealing with new motherhood issues can be comforting, relieving and reassuring.
Therapists who have extensive education and training in postpartum disorders understand that hormone changes, personal and family history, and social support, are all vital factors in understanding and alleviating postpartum symptoms.
Common postpartum symptoms include:
- Feeling overwhelmed and wondering if you should have become a mother in the first place
- Exhaustion from pregnancy, labor and delivery, and lack of sleep
- Being constantly in a state of worry
- Feeling guilty due to high self-expectations
- Not feeling “bonded” with the baby
- Your thoughts are racing and you can’t quiet your mind
- Feeling empty and numb as if you’re just going through the motions
- Lack of focus and concentration
- Being afraid that if you reach out for help, others will judge your inabilities
- Having feelings about motherhood that don’t seem “right”
- Military spouses of an active duty service member are often at home alone with a new baby and with possibly one or more children and find themselves feeling overwhelmed and often with little to no family or social supports close by while your spouse is deployed or TDY
If you are a new mother of one or more children and are experiencing any of the above symptoms, please reach out to me and together, we will find the underlying issues that are causing you to feel overwhelmed and we will create a strategy for moving forward with happiness and reassurance. Contact me today to see how I may help.