Laura Winters, LCSW, PMH-C is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who graduated from Fordham with a Master's Degree in Clinical Social Work. She received advanced clinical training in infertility counseling, as well as treating Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Learn more
Lauren Gorman, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor and graduated from Seton Hall University with a Master’s degree in Professional Counseling. She has advanced clinical training in infertility and prenatal/postpartum counseling. Learn more
Jessica Falzarano, LSW is a Licensed Social Worker and graduated from Rutgers with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work. She has advanced clinical training in maternal mental health and perinatal loss. Learn more
You tend to over analyze everything now, and it often takes you a long time to make a decision. It’s not just that though, you also intensely worry about the decisions you’ve made and how they will affect your baby. You’re confused about your symptoms. And since you don’t seem to fit in any box, you feel guilty and like you are failing as a mother.
Needless to say, your birth was nothing like you had hoped it would be. And as a result, you feel cheated. You blame yourself for everything that went wrong and feel betrayed by everyone who was supposed to be caring for you: your OB, the nursing staff, and maybe even your partner. Your sense of trust and safety has been turned upside down.
You try to calm your anxiety by attempting to stay positive. Yet, you cannot help but think of the potential for a negative result. You monitor your body for the slightest sign of pregnancy. And like thousands of other women who are going through IVF, you’re excited, hopeful, anxious, and downright impatient.
The end result of perfectionism, however, is not feeling more accomplished and lovable, but instead feeling more stressed out and anxious. Eventually, you realize that pushing hard is not actually going to get you to the finish line you’ve imagined for yourself. It’s actually only pushing the finish line further away.
As a new mom, you may feel ashamed that you’re not enjoying motherhood. You may also believe that there is something wrong with you because you are struggling to embrace your new life as a parent. Left unchecked, these feelings can spread a mixture of anxiety, depression, sadness, guilt, and worry. And as a result, may hold you back from being open to growing into your new role. seeking help or talking to your friends about what you are going through.
Read MoreAs the one receiving all the medical treatments and monitoring during your fertility journey, it can really start to feel like you are the reason why you don't have a baby yet. Even if the infertility issues are your husband’s, the fact that you are the home to your unborn baby, and the one to carry it to term, makes you feel like you should shoulder all of the responsibility for your failure to conceive.
Read MorePregnancy loss robs the expectant mother and everyone she knows of an imagined and desired future. And it can be especially difficult to know what to do or say when someone you care about goes from anticipating wonderful changes to completely let down in a matter of an instant. When you care about someone, you are invested in their well-being and when something so devastating happens you don’t want to do the wrong thing.
Read MoreBut one of the things you were not prepared for when you finally did become a family, was the toll the new baby would have on how well the two of you got along. No one fully understands how much their world changes when they bring a new baby home. In fact, you expect that you and your partner will be a team through the transition and figure things out together. You’ve both been so excited about this new chapter in your life together that you certainly don’t expect something so blissful to bring marital trouble.
Read MoreAs an expecting mother, you likely feel excited and are able to envision all the beautiful things that come along with bringing home baby. But, it’s doubtful you spend a lot of time thinking about the challenges you may feel emotionally when the baby arrives. Unfortunately, by not considering how hormones and lack of sleep contribute to feelings of anxiety and isolation, you’ll likely become surprised when you don’t feel like motherhood matches your expectations. The downside to not being prepared for these changes is that when it hits, you may feel like something is wrong with you.
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