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| Getting Pregnant
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Moody Blues
When is it more than just the blues?
Anxiety and mood swings are all part of the pregnancy experience, but when are the blues more than the blues- Mother & Baby sheds some light.
Pregnancy jitters It’s normal to feel anxious during pregnancy. Women often suffer mood swings because of morning sickness, fluctuating hormone levels and changes to the body. They may also lose their appetite and sleep poorly. These jitters and moodiness do not last long.
Perinatal anxiety This means being anxious or feeling depressed during pregnancy. One in five pregnant women in Singapore may have depressive symptoms, while about one in 10 pregnant women will suffer clinical depression. Perinatal anxiety is likely to develop into post partum blues, so early intervention is advised. The strains and stresses of pregnancy and caring for young children can leave women particularly vulnerable to the condition.
Symptoms include loss of appetite, poor sleep, forgetfulness, some women may entertain suicidal thoughts. Depression during pregnancy can also be caused by emotional triggers such as a death in the family and job loss. Perinatal depression can be cured with medication and counselling.
Tokophobia The fear of childbirth to the extent that women go to extreme lengths to avoid getting pregnant, for example, sterilisation, combining several forms of contraception and avoiding intimacy. If these women do get pregnant, they are likely to develop depression and try to get rid of the foetus.
Tokophobia may be caused by previous sexual abuse, poor relationships with one or both parents, and from listening to horror birth stories. There is no prescribed “cure”, but counselling, medication and proper education can alleviate the woman’s anxieties and fears.
“I was horrified when I got pregnant again”
Mother of two Wendy Cheng recounts how she got over her fear of childbirth
“I thought we were a perfect little family unit - my husband, James, my 8-year old son, Lucas and me. Then, the condom broke. When I started to feel queasy a few weeks on, I knew. And when the pregnancy test was positive, I swung from being quite excited to absolute repulsion. I wanted to get this thing… this alien thing out of my body. In my darkest thoughts, I even considered creating an ‘accident’ to get rid of the foetus. I kept my pregnancy from James until I was three months’ pregnant. When he found out, he was thrilled and announced it to Lucas, who was also very happy.
I was freaking out because I had a very traumatic and long labour with Lucas. There were various complications and the pain was very intense. Anyway, after the birth, I had horrible flashbacks and suffered from postnatal depression. I couldn’t have done it the second time around without James and Lucas. James was great. He accompanied me to my doctor’s appointments, and to be more prepared, we decided to attend childbirth classes, which we didn’t with Lucas.
Lucas was very proud that he was finally going to be a big brother. Of course, having a good doctor helped. I found that having a female doctor made it easier to talk about some of my fears.
When the day came, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I was. I was terrified. But James was there, and so was my doctor and some very understanding nurses, I felt … yes I can do it. After four hours of labour, little Leon popped into the world.”
Note: If you think you are suffering from perinatal depression, get advice from your obstetrician.
Mother & Baby Help For You
Support groups
KKH Perinatal Depression Support Group - Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month
Tel: 6394-3739
AWARE Helpline - Weekdays, 3 to 9.30pm
Tel: 1800 774-5935, or e-mail helpline@aware.org.sg
aLife www.alife.org.sg. A non-profit voluntary welfare organisation providing assistance and counselling services on pregnancy issues.
Tel: 6896-1805 or 9183-4483
Study of Tokophobia
The British Journal of Psychiatry http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/176/1/83 |
If you have any comments or practical suggestions, write to us at editor@family.sg
- Mother & Baby
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