Pregnancy & Mental Health Q&A
On The Introvert Archives Instagram stories, I asked for questions relating to pregnancy and mental health.. because TIA is primarily a mental health blog and well, I am pregnant so this is pretty relevant to me right now and I figured it would be relevant to other people as well.
Eventually, I will probably do a ‘giving birth and mental health’ Q&A but we are a couple of weeks off that point yet.
So, here we go- the questions of the people, as answered as brutally honest as possible.
IS THERE SOMETHING THAT HAS SURPRISED YOU ABOUT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH DURING THIS PREGNANCY?
Honestly, the biggest surprise was how well I feel I have actually handled the past nine months. I mean, I have obviously had bad days and weeks where I just cannot deal with life and everything is very overwhelming, but I believe I have coped well. It most definitely could have been worse.
DO YOU REGRET STAYING ON YOUR MEDICATION?
Not at all. I believe that if I had come off the medication this experience would not have been what it was. I would have been in a heap of depression and anxiety. I did the right thing for me, my mental health, and ultimately for the baby by continuing on my medication.
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT YOUR BABY HAVING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES?
I do know that depression can run in families and I do worry that my child/ren will experience mental health issues in the same way that I do. But in saying that, I know how to recognise the signs, I have experience with dealing with the issues, I think because of this I am better equipped to handle that situation. I will cross that bridge when I come to it, it is not something I am worried about at the moment.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST ANXIETY ABOUT GIVING BIRTH?
Seriously- the whole thing. I am very anxious about the whole thing from start to finish. Probably the biggest one though is that I will go into labour at home, which is an hour and a half from my hospital. I have plans to stay in the city from a certain time so I am close by, but that does mean I won’t be with Brodie until he can get himself to the hospital.
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION?
I always used to laugh to myself because the Mums that I would hang out with would be discussing their PPD and I would be sitting there like ‘okay, I have not even had a child and I am depressed..’ It is definitely something I worry about, but I have put in plans to minimise the risks to my mental health. Whether these plans all go the way I want them to could be a different story, but I am being proactive. I also have made sure I have a lot of support around me.
ARE YOU GOING TO BOTTLE FEED OR BREASTFEED?
I have made the decision to formula feed from day 1. I wholeheartedly believe that fed is best, and in this case, formula feeding is going to be best for me. I don’t think I have to justify myself- but I am following my rule that I will look after myself and my mental health first to ensure that I am able to look after the baby.
DID YOU CHOOSE TO GO PRIVATE OR PUBLIC?
I chose to go private with a clinic that operates within the private health system here in Perth. There were a couple of reasons I chose Private:
I bloody well pay for private health I may as well get some use out of it considering how much it costs.
I was able to create a relationship with my midwife and obstetrician and be comfortable with the people that were going to be with me during a high anxiety situation (ie. birth)
Brodie is able to stay with me overnight which I feel will be a massive help to how comfortable I am. I hate hospitals and get really anxious being alone in them, especially at night, so this was a big thing for me.
Better food. (kind of joking, but not really).
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT COVID AFFECTING YOUR BIRTH EXPERIENCE?
I try not to give it too much thought- I don’t want to stress myself out about something that isn’t a reality at the moment. In WA we are very lucky that things are relatively normal, but I also know that things can change very quickly. If in the next few weeks something does happen I will deal with that when it comes. For now, positive thoughts.
HAS THERE BEEN ANYTHING THAT HAS REALLY STRESSED YOU OUT ABOUT BEING PREGNANT?
I would say the biggest thing that stresses me out is when I cannot remember the last time he moved, or if I feel I haven’t felt him in a little while that stresses me out. He is quite active so when I can’t remember him moving I start to panic that maybe something is wrong and being an hour and a half from the hospital just makes me very anxious. Throughout the whole pregnancy, I have used two or three different affirmations that I tell myself in my head over and over again to reassure myself and calm down and that has worked quite well.
DO YOU THINK YOUR MISCARRIAGE HAS IMPACTED YOUR MENTAL STATE DURING PREGNANCY?
Absolutely! For context, I miscarried in December and conceived in January so it was VERY fresh in my mind about the miscarriage. I did a lot of work to get myself through that miscarriage with my professional health support team, which I think, had I not done, I would not have coped as well as I did. Sometimes I do feel guilty that we lost one baby and then got pregnant again so quickly, but it is life and these things happen and I just work on accepting that.
Thank you for submitting all your questions! I love knowing what other people specifically want to know in regards to mental health etc. As I said, once I have had the baby I will do another Q&A, or maybe a birth story- who knows. Until then, feel free to continue asking questions!
