The Pregnancy and Postpartum Mood Workbook : The Guide to Surviving Your Emotions When Having a Baby

This book helps you throughout your pregnancy and postpartum/postnatal recovery. By helping you understand what you are feeling, and teaching you empirically validated new skills so you can manage your changing moods, you can work toward feeling better. Becoming a new parent is one of the biggest changes one can face in life. You are experiencing enormous changes biologically, hormonally, and emotionally. Your whole life may seem uprooted. It makes sense that you might be feeling significant mood changes as well. With one out of five mothers and one out of ten partners experiencing depression and anxiety when having a baby, this workbook will remind you that you are not alone. This workbook is written with sleep-deprived new parents in mind, providing helpful information in short, digestible segments. These are intermixed with thought-provoking activities such as brief journaling prompts and suggestions for tangible steps to make small, realistic changes. You can pick it up and put it down, reading it on your timing, without the information becoming overwhelming. The workbook covers the entire range of mood symptoms, from the Baby Blues, to anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, and more. The Pregnancy and Postpartum Mood Workbook uses inclusive language and content applicable to all new parents. There are chapters uniquely dedicated to building attachment, managing awful thoughts, bringing awareness to your partner's mental health, parenting babies in the NICU or with medical issues, and exploring culture, identity, and mental health. There is also a resource section with a wide array of support available to meet the needs of any parent. Adoptive and single parents, LGBTQ+ and heterosexual parents, as well as clinicians and birth workers will find this book to be an invaluable resource. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Page Contents Acknowledgments Part I: Helpful Information – Empowering You with Education Chapter 1 How to Get the Most Out of This Workbook Chapter 2 What’s Going on With Me? Breaking Down the Difference Between Baby Blues and Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders Chapter 3 Learning More About Your Moods: No, Seriously, What’s Going on With Me? Chapter 4 Risk Factors and Screening: Why Me, and What Next? Part II: Building Tangible Skills to Help You Weather the Storm Chapter 5 Sleep and Self-Care: Tangible Ways to Climb out of the Black Hole Chapter 6 Attachment and Bonding: Creating a Secure Foundation with Your Baby While in the Middle of Your Storm Chapter 7 Mom Guilt and Other Mind Battles: How to Manage Your Thoughts, Moods, and Behaviors Using Cognitive Behavioral Skills Chapter 8 Manage Awful Thoughts: Name Your Dragon to Slay Your Dragon Chapter 9 Role Changes, Support, and Communication: Strengthen Your Village Chapter 10 Mindfulness, Meditation, and Relaxation: How to Quiet the Storm Within Part III: Additional Factors – Aspects of Your Life that Can Impact Your Mood Chapter 11 Embracing More of You: Culture, Identity, and Mental Health Chapter 12 How’s Your Partner Doing? (Yes, They Can Struggle Too!) Chapter 13 Crying, Low Sex Drive, Irritability and More: How Your Hormonal and Biological Changes Impact Your Emotions Chapter 14 A Tough Situation Just Got Tougher: How Parenting a Child with Health Issues Can Impact Your Mood Part IV: What’s Next? Chapter 15 From Ambivalent to Terrified and Everything In Between: Creating an Empowering Postpartum Plan for the Next Pregnancy Chapter 16 So What Now? Treatment Options Resources References Index "Becoming a new parent is one of the biggest changes one can face in life. You are experiencing enormous changes biologically, hormonally, and emotionally. Your whole life may seem uprooted. It makes sense that you might be feeling significant mood changes as well. With 1/5 of mothers and 1/10 of partners experiencing depression and anxiety when having a baby, this workbook will remind you that you are not alone. It will empower you in managing your changing moods throughout your pregnancy and postpartum/postnatal recovery, helping explain what you are feeling and offering tangible skills that will help you feel better. This workbook is written with sleep deprived new parents in mind, providing helpful information in short, digestible segments intermixed with thought-provoking activities. You can pick it up and put it down, reading it on your timing, without the information becoming overwhelming. The workbook covers the entire range of mood symptoms, from the Baby Blues, to anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, and more. The Pregnancy and Postpartum Mood Workbook uses inclusive language and content applicable to all new parents. There are chapters dedicated to parents with babies in the NICU or with medical issues, the impact of mood symptoms on partners, and the impact of culture and identity on mental health. There is also a resource section with a wide array of support available to meet the needs of any parent. Adoptive and single parents, same-sex, BIPOC and gender non-conforming parents, as well as clinicians and birth workers will find this book to be an invaluable resource"-- Provided by publisher The Pregnancy and Postpartum Mood Workbook uses inclusive language and content applicable to all new parents to empower you in managing your changing moods throughout your pregnancy and postpartum/postnatal recovery, helping explain what you are feeling and offering tangible skills that will help you feel better.