After the excitement of giving birth and bringing your new baby home, caring for your newborn on your own might feel overwhelming. It’s normal to feel exhausted, uncertain, or frustrated in the weeks and months immediately following the birth of your baby. In fact, it can take a first-time mother anywhere from six months to a year to adjust to postpartum physical and emotional changes. Even if you have plenty of help and support from your partner, family, and friends, your feelings might concern you—but you are not alone.

Baby Blues

The birth of your baby is bound to create a wide range of emotions, from the joy and elation of finally meeting your child, to worry, frustration, and sadness after giving birth. These emotions are completely normal, and can occur no matter how prepared you are for the arrival of your baby. Unexpected mood swings, anxiety, and worry can also occur during pregnancy, or if you have recently miscarried or weaned a baby from breastfeeding.

More than half of all new mothers experience the “baby blues,” a postpartum condition often marked by crying for no reason, impatience, irritability, restlessness and anxiety. The baby blues usually only last for a short time after delivery, and go away on their own. Help, support and patience from family and friends while you adjust to caring for a new baby can go a long way to keeping you from feeling overwhelmed. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; asking a friend or relative to stay with your baby for even just a few hours can help you rest and recharge.

Taking care of yourself also helps you deal with the baby blues. Make an effort to get as much rest as you can, and maintain a healthy diet. Ask for help when you need it, and consider joining the New Mom Network, PinnacleHealth’s free informal support group and sharing time for new moms and their babies. Facilitated by a maternal/child health nurse, the group offers the chance for discussions about the physical and emotional adjustments to motherhood, as well as information about infant massage and lactation.

We offer two groups: one for babies ages 0-9 months, and one for babies ages 10-16 months. Call WomanCare at (717) 231-8900 for more information.

Moms Navigating Through Life

After your baby arrives, your life and family will inevitably change – and continue to change as your child grows up. To help you deal with the transition into and through all the stages of motherhood, PinnacleHealth offers the Moms Navigating Through Life therapy group. The group helps women deal with the role adjustments within the home and work that having a baby can cause, and provides problem-solving strategies and solutions for mothering children from birth through the teen years. Led by licensed professional counselor Lesley Davis, LPC, the group meets weekly to discuss motherhood’s effect on relationship and career, handling maternal emotions, and gives mothers chance to connect with others and avoid feelings of isolation.

Topics include:

• Dealing with obsessive worry
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Motherhood’s affect on relationships
• Identity, intimacy issues, body image
• Career changes
• Maternal emotions, mood changes,
• isolation, irritability, lack of energy and motivation
• ultimately

For more information about the Moms Navigating Through Life therapy group, contact PinnacleHealth Psychological Associates at (717) 231-8360. Each session costs $45; most insurance plans cover the cost of therapy.