Therapy for Perinatal and Postpartum Moms

Motherhood is both exciting and terrifying.

Months ago, Megan* finally found herself pregnant. Excitement coursed through her body when she saw that positive test. She felt excited to become a mom. However, over the past several months, as she has gotten closer to the baby’s arrival, she has become nervous, wondering if she can be a good mom.

She thinks she can but worries she doesn’t have enough money and doesn’t have a “village” for support. Moreover, she wonders, “What if I do something unintentionally to hurt the baby?” Nevertheless, those thoughts are dimmed because of all the focus on birthing the baby, and the fear about pushing a baby out!

Yet, Megan makes it through those last months of pregnancy, through birth, and finds herself a couple of weeks or months into motherhood, struggling hardcore. She hates to admit that she thinks about dropping her baby on the sidewalk to watch the baby bleed as she walks away. She knows she’ll never do this, but the thought keeps running through her mind.

It feels bizarre because at night, Megan can’t seem to entirely drift to sleep because she is worried her baby will stop breathing, and she desperately needs her baby to survive.

Megan is exhausted.

Megan knew she’d be tired, but had no idea how utterly drained she would feel. She thought the love of her baby would make her okay with being tired. But it doesn’t. Sometimes, she can’t even feel love for her baby. All she can do is meet the baby’s basic needs and try to eat a few bites herself.

One day, Megan is standing in the kitchen trying to heat food because her mom went to the store hours ago. She feels annoyed that her mom has been gone for so long.

Megan feels hungry and wants someone to bring her some food. So, she does what she must – stands in front of the stove warming up some soup. Just then, the spoon breaks, and she bursts into tears.

Falling to the ground as Megan leans against the oven, sobbing. She’s at a breaking point and doesn’t feel like she can do this. At this point, she doesn’t think she can be a mom.

Therapy provided the support Megan needed.

With Therapy, Megan feels held, cared for…

Megan knew she needed help, so she scheduled a session with me. Gratefully, I offered virtual and in-person sessions to which she could bring the baby.

Because she was so exhausted, she opted for a virtual session. While covered in blankets in her bed, Megan entered therapy with many sobs. I calmly let her know, “I’m here. Being a mom is hard. We will get through this.” Her sobs eased, and she talked about how hard being a mom is, and how she didn’t realize how tired she would be, and worried about the thought of hurting the baby. She noted that she couldn’t sleep because she was afraid the baby would stop breathing.

I let her know that what she was experiencing as a new mother was normal and that we would work together to ease her fears.

Therapy provided Megan with clarity and structure.

Megan left with a plan to get through the next few days and weeks. She felt empowered to trust herself and ask for more help from her partner, friends, and family. She knows her number one priority is sleep and uses breathing and calming meditations to find sleep. She has gotten someone to care for the baby so she can get some deep sleep.

Each day, Megan wakes up feeling refreshed and capable of figuring out how to be a mom. She knows she needs so much more support, but she hopes to become the mom she always imagined she would be.

Now, Megan prioritizes her self-care and continues to keep up with therapy. Processing how she was raised works to break her cycle of trauma. Often, she validates her child’s feelings, recognizes who her child is, and learns to grow with her child. She knows that she is in a state of BECOMING a mom. She can learn, grow, adapt, and change.

Most importantly, Megan knows she can trust herself, her parenting decisions, the people she has to turn to when she needs support, and her ability to grow and become a more aligned parent. She is grateful to have me as her therapist to support and guide her through the many twists and turns of motherhood.

You, mama, deserve more support.

Megan learned to overcome her fears associated with motherhood, and so can you. Schedule a free 20-minute phone or video call to experience an empowered motherhood journey.

*Name and story are composite narratives and do not reflect an actual client.