Parenting is not for the faint of heart. Parenthood is a journey that will test your limits, confidence, beliefs, and endurance. Whether you are trying to conceive, on a fertility journey, newly postpartum, grieving the death of a child, or a veteran parent, we are here to support you on your parenting journey.
Perinatal (referring to the period from conception through one year after delivery) mental health disorders are the most common complication of pregnancy. In the United States, 1 out of every 5 mothers* and 1 out of 10 fathers* struggles with their mental health during pregnancy and/or in the first year after a baby arrives. Welcoming a new member into your family can be a time of tremendous joy and significant change. Chances are, if you’re an expectant or new parent reading this, your parenting journey has included uncertainty, exhaustion, frustration, and facing lots of change. It can be isolating, defeating, and seem impossible that life will ever look and feel different. First of all, you are not alone. Secondly, we can help.
Perinatal Mental Health disorders include antenatal (during pregnancy) and postpartum depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, manic depression, and psychosis. They affect birthing people and their partners. Signs and symptoms vary, but the most important thing to know is that if you are struggling for more than two weeks after your baby arrives, help is available. You do not need to struggle alone. Perinatal mental health conditions are one of the most effectively treated mental health challenges. Relief from your symptoms and a return to joy, confidence, and hopefulness are possible.
For more information on Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, signs and symptoms, and resources available if you need help immediately, visit Postpartum Support International.
When you seek support for perinatal mental health disorders at Blue Kite Wellness, you will:
- work toward better understanding your parenting journey,
- grieve the loss of “life before” and learn how to create a “new normal,”
- explore and discover who you are as an individual, parent, friend, child,
- identify the values, expectations, and needs that are meaningful to you,
- connect with others who intimately understand and can support your healing, and
- be seen, understood, and supported on your wellness journey.
*We recognize that this terminology is not gender inclusive and do not condone the use of these labels, but are reporting the categories reflected in the current research. At Blue Kite Wellness, we recognize not all people who give birth identify as women and not all partners identify as fathers.