Pandemic Pregnancy Mental Health | One Woman’s Story
Pre-natal and post-natal anxiety is hard enough during the best of times, but throw in the pandemic and you have the double whammy of a major additional stressor and less support and connection to help manage mental health challenges. One new mom opens up about her experience navigating a Covid pregnancy with her pre-existing anxiety disorder. Thank you June for sharing this with us, I know so many moms can relate!
June’s story
My husband and I were very fortunate to have gotten pregnant fairly quickly after we started trying. But, little did we know that the world would change for the worse in a matter of months. The combination of the stress from being pregnant during COVID, working in a direct patient care setting in the hospital, and finally my pre-existing diagnosis of general anxiety disorder made me feel like the world was falling apart. I was constantly on the verge of tears from the stress and anxiety. My husband was isolating himself from us (me and my daughter) due to his job as a first responder and I was too scared to leave the house. And with the stay at home orders, I was completely alone and isolated (physically and mentally).
At this time, I finally decided to see (via zoom) a counselor to help cope with my stress and anxiety. This ended up being the best decision I could have made for myself. I was so focused on making sure that my baby was okay, that I was starting to forget to take care of myself. My counselor reminded me that I was just as important as my baby (I think a lot of mommies are so focused on our babies, that we forget that we need care for ourselves just as much). It was still a daily battle in my head to keep my feelings in check. But, knowing that there was someone I could talk to about my feelings made it just a lot more manageable.
My counseling sessions continued throughout my pregnancy and I have now continued to see a therapist postpartum. This pandemic has been a very eye opening experience into how important self care is to a soon-to-be parent. I think the point I'm trying to make with my story is to let other moms know (or just remind them) that it's okay to not be okay (especially in these crazy times). It's okay to not be operating at 100% all the time. It's okay to ask for help even though we may feel like everyone else is doing it on their own. And finally, it's okay to put yourself first once in a while.
