Pregnancy

When you announce your pregnancy, family and friends often expect you to be excited and happy. It can therefore be hard to admit that you might be feeling worried, anxious or ambivalent about being pregnant.

Sometimes the journey through pregnancy is not always as straightforward as we would like, and it is normal for you and your partner to feel a variety of conflicting emotions about being pregnant.

Reasons for seeking therapy during pregnancy

  • Not being able to enjoy your pregnancy in the way you would like due to anxiety or low mood

  • Having a history of mental health difficulties such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD

  • Feelings of ambivalence about being pregnant or becoming a parent

  • Not feeling bonded with your unborn baby

  • Being pregnant after a previous traumatic birth

  • Worries about being a “good enough” parent

  • Concerns about the impact of a baby on your relationship with your partner

  • Experiencing intrusive thoughts about something bad happening to your baby

  • Fear of giving birth (this is also called tokophobia)

  • Pregnancy triggering memories of difficult experiences from your own childhood

  • Coming to terms with an unexpected or unplanned pregnancy