Perinatal Mental Health Signs & Symptoms
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If you are pregnant or had a baby in the last year and you feel like you are no longer yourself; losing your sense of identity, experience uncontrollable crying and sadness, or having thoughts that you might do something to hurt yourself or your loved ones you may be experiencing a perinatal mental health mood disorder.
Possible symptoms include...
· Feelings of anger or irritability
· Difficult to bond with the baby or your other children
· Crying and sadness
· Feelings of guilt, shame or hopelessness
· Constant worry
· Feeling that something bad is going to happen
· Physical symptoms like dizziness, hot flashes, and nausea
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*All caregivers can experience symptoms of perinatal or
postnatal mental health disorders*
NICU Families
Parents who have their newborns in the NICU can experience all the symptoms listed above with perinatal depression and anxiety, along with additional stressors of an extended hospital admission, life altering medical diagnosis for their children, and the physical and emotional disconnect parents face.
Transitioning from the NICU to home can also be overwhelming as parents face a new set of challenges; caring for your baby without monitors, the possibility of s/he getting sick, letting others care for your child, etc.
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It can be helpful to speak with a mental health professional to process all the feelings you are experiencing.
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Common Phrases:
“I feel helpless”
“I feel like I have lost a sense of control now that my baby has been delivered. I was the one that provided everything and now I can’t even hold or touch my baby”
“Was there something I did that made my baby go into the NICU?”
“I cannot always be in the NICU due to outside factors, but I don’t want my baby to feel like s/he is being abandoned when I need to go home”
“I hate getting shots so I feel awful watching by baby being poked and prodded all the time”