Constantly Checking On Your Baby? Here's What Might be Going On.

Becoming a parent is a life-changing experience, and it’s perfectly normal to feel anxious, stressed, and overwhelmed at times. But what happens if your fear and worry begin to interfere with your quality of life and that of your family’s? If you feel like you can’t turn off your anxious thoughts and are overwhelmed with worry, you may be suffering from perinatal anxiety.

Nothing shakes your mind, body, and heart like bringing a human into this world. What's more, you've been charged with protecting a new life in today's world that, to many, feels like it's off its axis. Many of the social supports available to new parents such as in-person postnatal yoga, meet-ups, and visits from family and friends, are less available these days.

The burden of protecting and nurturing your child may feel lonelier and heavier than ever before. Even so, it's important to know that postpartum worry, including checking behaviors, is entirely normal. Find comfort in the fact that you're not alone; 90% of new parents experience intrusive thoughts. This also makes it more difficult to separate typical, normative concerns from the anxiety that 7-10% of postpartum people with uteruses experience. You may be experiencing perinatal anxiety if you cannot turn off your worries, your worries significantly impact your sleep, or your worries interfere with caring for your baby or yourself. If this sounds like you, you're not losing your mind. Your mind is stretching and coping with the transformational shift of becoming a parent.

It is important to distinguish between Normal New Parent Worry and OCD. Although many fears, anxieties, and worries are a normal part of parenting - postpartum OCD is when those fears and compulsions take over every facet of your life or when you feel like your thoughts are controlling you and you are no longer in control of your actions. For example, many new parents that have OCD will have trouble sleeping. They may struggle to go to sleep or stay asleep even when the baby is soundly sleeping because they are worried and are constantly checking to make sure the baby is alive.

OCD may also manifest in compulsive actions or behaviors that the parent believes will protect their children such as incessantly washing their hands, praying, ensuring the stoves are turned off and seeking reassurance from friends, family, or a doctor. Some parents are also petrified of taking care of their babies by themselves, in fear that they may hurt or harm them. They will avoid being alone with the baby or will continue to question their capacity to care for their baby.

If you are struggling with this, reach out to us and remember that you are not alone. Our maternal wellness specialists can help support you through this very real, very normal experience and very valid experience.