- Realize Its Normal:
If you’re stressed and overwhelmed, take note you are not alone.
Parents reported:
“New moms are wired to feel some level of worry—it’s what makes us keep a hand on our baby while he’s wiggling on the changing table.
“We know the areas of the brain involved in maternal caregiving overlap with those involved in depression and anxiety,” says Jodi Pawluski, Ph.D., a researcher at the Research Institute for Environmental and Occupational Health, in Rennes, France.
Experts believe that postpartum anxiety might develop when these natural protective instincts kick into unhealthy overdrive.
Having anxiety during pregnancy is the greatest risk factor for postpartum anxiety.
A personal or family history of depression and anxiety comes in second. Shifting hormones also play a role, since levels of estrogen and progesterone plummet after birth, and oxytocin and prolactin drop during weaning from breastfeeding.
Like any mood or anxiety disorder, postpartum anxiety is an interplay between biology and circumstances: Add potential sleep deprivation, isolation, and marital role changes, and it can be a perfect storm, says Samantha Meltzer-Brody, M.D., director of the Perinatal Psychiatry Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Women’s Mood Disorders.”
If you suffer with anxiety already, it’s probably best you get a plan together with your doctor, before your baby is born.
Being a new mom is a wonderful feeling. You are being entrusted to raise a child and love them well.
It’s a privilege and an honor.
While at times raising a new baby will be stressful, the good will outweigh the bad, so enjoy every moment, because they don’t stay young forever!
What advice do you have to new moms?
What are your favorite ways to beat stress and stop anxious thoughts?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
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