Finding out you are expecting a child can be a very joyous and exciting time. It can also be a time of stress, anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. Personality, past experiences, and how your pregnancy symptoms impact your mood may all play a role in how you deal with any one pregnancy. Depending on the circumstances of your pregnancy, feelings may be complex. There is no one right way to feel when it comes to becoming a parent.
Parents who are expecting a child often have concerns about:
- Being a good enough parent
- Taking care of a newborn, loss of sleep, and responsibility for another human being
- Symptoms of pregnancy, labor, delivery, and health of the baby
- Shifts in relationships with partner, friends, family, and other siblings
- Preparing for the baby, financial stability, housing arrangements, childcare, and career decisions
- Ambivalence about becoming a parent
- Questions about how to parent a child/ parenting roles
- Fear around the unknown
If you had a difficult time becoming pregnant or experienced a prior pregnancy loss, your pregnancy may be challenging. You may be dealing with anxiety, worry, and fear around the health and well being of your unborn child. Fears around the unknown may make your experience of pregnancy one filled with anxiety. You may feel robbed of the simple joy of expecting a baby and it may be difficult for you to attach to your unborn child. Support is available to you- you do not have to suffer through pregnancy in fear.
Therapy can help you move through the experience of pregnancy with less stress by exploring your feelings about parenthood, by providing you with an opportunity to talk about anxieties and fears, and by helping you develop an understanding of how you might like to parent your child.