What is Perinatal Anxiety: Understanding Anxiety in Pregnancy

It’s time to bring awareness to the mental health challenges that are not only faced after pregnancy, but during pregnancy as well. One of those challenges can be perinatal anxiety. You likely are familiar with postpartum anxiety where moms can feel agitated and anxious following birth due to the hormonal changes as well as the demands of an infant. An expecting mother could also feel these anxieties during pregnancy, which could be difficult to find ways to cope.

Perinatal anxiety doesn’t impact every expecting mother. It is difficult to predict which pregnant women will be affected. Expecting mothers with a history of anxiety could be at a higher risk, but that doesn’t mean they will for sure be impacted.

If you are someone who thinks you might be suffering with perinatal anxiety, please understand you are not alone. Nothing you have done has caused this; it is not your fault. There is help and there are ways to understand what perinatal anxiety is so that you can take action to cope.

What is Perinatal Anxiety?

Perinatal anxiety is also known as prenatal anxiety. This is anxiety you feel during the time of pregnancy. There is a spectrum of anxiety that an expecting mom can experience: mild, moderate, severe. It can be caused by increased worries in pregnancy.

Pregnant women take on more fears during pregnancy such as the anticipation of labor and delivery, what items to purchase for the baby, financial stress, and more. Many of these worries can be a factor in perinatal anxiety.

8 Symptoms of Perinatal Anxiety

There are specific signs and symptoms of perinatal anxiety to keep in mind. This is not an exhaustive list, but a helpful list of common experiences.

Irregular heartbeat

If you experience an irregular, slow, or fast heartbeat, this could be a sign of anxiety rising up in you during pregnancy. Irregular heartbeats interfere with your daily activities and therefore can interfere with your health. This is a good time to sit down, take a few deep breaths, and sip on some cool water.

Trouble Sleeping

It’s hard to differentiate trouble sleeping due to an uncomfortable, growing belly or due to anxiety. If you are being kept awake at night because of rushing thoughts in your mind or you can’t seem to turn off your mind, this could be an indicator of anxiety in pregnancy. Your worries of pregnancy and/or your baby are contributing to not being able to sleep.

It is understandable to feel anxious in pregnancy. It’s when the anxiety becomes debilitating is when it becomes a problem.

Grinding Your Teeth

Grinding your teeth is a sign of stress in your body. Many expecting moms grind their teeth when they experience anxiety. Although grinding your teeth mostly happens at night, you will feel it in your jaw the next day that you were grinding. Some women also find themselves clenching their teeth during the day, which is similar to grinding at night for the same reason.

Panic Attacks

A classic sign of anxiety in many individuals is the appearance of panic attacks. These come on sudden and quick, typically followed with increased rate of breathing, increased heart rate, and sweating for some. Panic attacks can last different lengths for different people experiencing them. If you are having panic attacks more often in pregnancy, this is a clear symptom of a deeper issue.

Unable to Relax

Finding yourself in a constant state of “fight or flight” can indicate that you are experiencing perinatal anxiety. When you are unable to relax no matter how hard you are trying or how hard those around you are trying to help you, this anxiety can become all consuming. Being unable to relax can look like pacing, constantly on your feet, nail biting, or a combination of these.

Fearing the Worst

There are understandable fears that come with pregnancy. These are typically fears you can talk through with your family, friends, and prenatal care team. However, when you begin fearing the worst no matter what situation you are in or fear the worst despite no proof of anything bad happening in your pregnancy, this is when things can get even scarier.

Rumination

Rumination is when you think of bad experiences or situations over and over again. There is no direct threat to you, but you are having anxiety over something that has passed or something that has never happened to you before. Your mind is trying to keep you alive so it creates scenarios that keep you in fear and/or anxiety in order to protect you.

Dissociation

There are a couple of forms of dissociation that an expecting mom can experience during perinatal anxiety. These include depersonalization and derealization. Depersonalization is when you feel disconnected from your body or mind (out of body experience). Derealization is when you feel disconnected from the world around you.

Perinatal Anxiety Doesn’t Define You

If you are experiencing any symptom of perinatal anxiety, it is time for you to seek help. It is best for you and your growing baby that you make a plan of action sooner than later so that you can begin to feel less anxious during this sensitive time.

If you are suffering with perinatal depression, please keep in mind that it does not define who you are. It is something that is out of your control and it doesn’t mean this is always going to be the person you are forever. There are ways to cope and get to a healthier, happier state of mind.

Perinatal anxiety is only one piece of your pregnancy journey. Let me help you make the rest of your journey more enjoyable! Partner with me– a licensed therapist with specialization in maternal mental health– so that we can make a plan together for you to break free of perinatal anxiety’s hold on you.