Prenatal and Postpartum Anxiety:

Perinatal anxiety (also sometimes referred to as prenatal or postpartum anxiety) is very common. Although postpartum depression is familiar to more people, prenatal anxiety is treated much more frequently in my practice than is postpartum depression. While it is natural to be worried about the health and well-being of your baby in both the prenatal and postpartum phase, sometimes anxiety can begin to interfere with daily life and affect your ability to care for yourself or your baby. Although many new or expectant mothers are warned that they will be tired, that the baby will cry, and that seemingly simple tasks such as completing laundry, eating a hot meal or taking a hot shower will become increasingly difficult, few moms are warned that anxiety may impact sleep (even if the baby is sleeping fine), or result in constant worries about if the baby gets sick or if the baby is thriving and meeting developmental milestones. Unhealthy social comparison practices (i.e., comparing your baby to those of friends or relatives) also results in increased anxiety, as can unwanted input from others about how you “should” do things with your baby.

In my practice, we offer one of the only treatment programs in the area specifically designed for new or expectant mothers to help them learn skills and strategies for dealing with the major life changes that come along with having a baby. The Perinatal Anxiety Treatment Program (PAT Program) is a 12-week program and is based on the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

You are welcome to bring your baby to session and can take comfort in knowing that it is a breastfeeding or bottle-feeding friendly zone, and that crying babies, spit up, and dirty diapers are par for the course. We welcome you and your baby to session, so don’t sweat the small stuff.

INFORMATION IN THE MOMENT

If you cannot find the answers to any questions you may have, or if you're not sure whether we can help, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone or email. We will make every effort to return all calls or emails within 48 hours of initial contact, and from there we can set up an initial appointment.

Other local crisis hotlines and resources are listed below: