Infertility and grief belong together. For many people in the midst of efforts to conceive, it can feel strange, or even wrong, to acknowledge this fact. After all, hope has not been lost and you are actively fighting for the future you imagined for your family. However, the presence of hope does not cancel out…
Perinatal and Reproductive Mental Health
10 Things to Say to a Friend Going Through Infertility
Infertility can bring profound grief, depression, anxiety, and isolation – and can impact nearly all realms of someone’s life. Even well-meaning friends and family often don’t know what to say or how to support someone going through this. As a perinatal psychotherapist, I’ve heard both sides of this – people who feel unsupported by…
Preparing for Your New Baby: A Guide for the Non-Birthing Partner
The arrival of a new baby is one of the most profound and transformative experiences that a family can go through. While there is an enormous amount of attention (rightfully so) paid to the birthing partner during the perinatal period, the non-birthing partner’s experience is frequently overlooked or minimized (Eddy et al., 2019). The reality…
Maternal Health Awareness Day: Advocating for Your Health
Like many of us during this winter season, I was recently hit hard by a cold and cough. The symptoms seemed to last forever, with each day hoping for some relief to come but it only seemed to get worse. Finally on day ten, I sought medical care and patiently waited for my turn. As…
Birth Trauma: When a Healthy Baby Isn’t the Whole Story
We often hear childbirth being described as “magical,” or “transformative,” which might resonate for some people, but what about those whose experiences feel quite the opposite? For many people who give birth, the birthing experience is associated with fear, powerlessness, and lack of control that can have lasting psychological and emotional impacts. Amongst so much…
The ABCs of Postpartum Self-Care
All life transitions, even the joyful ones which mark the beginning of a new, wished-for chapter, are tough. The transition to motherhood is even more challenging than a move to a foreign country, getting married, or setting on a different career path. Why is that? The arrival of a baby forces changes that are abrupt,…
Compassion in Action: Supporting LGBTQ+ Loved Ones on Their Fertility Journey
Happy Pride Month from all of us at Wildflower Center for Emotional Health! This Pride Month, we are shining a light on how to be an effective ally and friend to people in the LGBTQIA+ community going through infertility. Infertility is a deeply emotional experience, and for LGBTQIA+ individuals and couples, the journey to parenthood…
Postpartum Depression: What Are the Symptoms?
If you’re in a season of having kids or considering having kids, chances are you know someone who has experienced Postpartum Depression (PPD). Studies show as many as 21% of new moms experience PPD (Wisner et al., 2013), but what does that actually mean? We are going to break down the symptoms associated with PPD…
Recognizing and Celebrating Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about the emotional and psychological challenges that many women face during the transition to parenthood. Conditions like postpartum depression, anxiety, and other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders often go undiagnosed and untreated, affecting not only mothers but also their families and children’s development. Although…
The Silent Struggle: Perinatal OCD and Intrusive Thoughts
Before giving birth to your child, you might have expected sleepless nights, dirty diapers, and emotional ups and downs. What you might not have expected were terrifying, intrusive thoughts that seemed to come out of nowhere. Some of these thoughts might look like images of accidentally dropping your baby down the stairs or of harming…
