Postpartum Anxiety | UK Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week

You’ve read through each of the articles and it doesn’t seem to be postnatal depression, it doesn’t seem to be PTSD or psychosis, but you know that something is just not right.

If you or someone you know is experiencing excessive feelings of worry or dread and racing thoughts, it could be postnatal anxiety.

Postpartum anxiety disorder is a cousin to postpartum depression (PPD) that is thought to affect 1 in 5 mums. It is thought that postpartum anxiety is actually more common than postpartum depression, but it is just less widely known.

Note: Many symptoms overlap between PPD and PPA (sleep disturbances, restlessness and irritability), however, mums experiencing PPD can experience symptoms of anxiety, but not all mothers suffering from anxiety are depressed. A key difference between PPD and PPA is that: PPD can cause mothers to experience extreme sadness or even disinterest in their newborn, whereas PPA symptoms usually manifest in the excessive feelings of worry or dread.

It’s natural to feel anxious as a new parent

Taking care of a newborn can feel overwhelming and super scary, especially if it’s your first. New parents can worry about the baby getting too hot, too cold, too tired, too hungry - the list goes on - but feeling worried and concerned for your newborn is natural... to an extent.

If your worries are become irrational and so debilitating that it is impacting upon your daily activities and relationships, this has moved out of the realm of what is considered natural anxiety.

Here you will see two sets of symptoms - one for postpartum anxiety and the other for OCD.

OCD falls under the banner of anxiety and is marked by obsessive and upsetting thoughts that create a compulsive need to to something to diffuse that anxiety that has been caused by those intrusive thoughts.

If any of these symptoms are present and they are impacting upon your quality of life, it is important to reach out for support... either from your GP, Health Visitor or midwife.

Workplace considerations

If a mum is still experiencing postpartum anxiety on her return to work, it is likely that this will impact upon her ability to concentrate and focus on her role. Therefore, it’s hugely important that we have the right support available in the workplace to help support in their full recovery.

The risk associated with maternal mental health can be extremely concerning for employers and managers, but if there is the right level of support available in the workplace, we can quickly ensure working mums are able to access the support that is needed and then remain active in the workplace.

If we are not adequately supporting working mums within the workplace, we are neglecting the needs of a large population of our workforce. Aside from being incredibly detrimental to the wellbeing of our staff, this will hugely impact both employee retention rates and productivity.

What would you do?

As always, I invite you to consider how maternal mental health is approached within your workplace wellbeing strategy. What would you do if an employee was showing signs of postpartum anxiety? Would you notice these signs and if so, how would you handle this safely?

Keep in mind, although tempting, a “one size fits all” approach will be counter-productive when supporting mums returning to the workplace. Each situation and 'return' will differ from individual to individual, which means our policies must be setup to allow for an adaptive approach.

In addition, if you are a Mental Health First Aider in your workplace, it is important to be aware of the signs and symptoms arising once the new mum has returned to work. Anxiety when left untreated tends to snowball rather than resolve itself.

Please always know that Rebecca Reed, founder of Siendo, is always here to support you if you are unsure of the next steps you should take.

No one should have to navigate the complicated world of maternal mental health alone!

Hopefully some of the below resources can help too...

Note: You may hear maternal mental health conditions referred to as postnatal or postpartum interchangeably. They usually refer to the same condition, however, normally “postpartum” refers to issues pertaining to the mother and “postnatal” refers to those concerning the baby.

Helpful Resources

• Harvard Business Review: Postpartum anxiety is invisible, but common and treatable (Great for tips on non-medication related treatment strategies)
• Tommy’s: What is postnatal anxiety
• What to Expect: Postpartum anxiety