Previa Playback: Anxiety During Pregnancy

What if I can't do this? Is the baby, ok? Why do I feel this way?

Sound familiar? Pregnancy anxiety is common but often not talked about. Listen in as the ladies break down why you may experience anxiety during pregnancy and how to manage it.

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Replay Month Welcome

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey guys, this is Sarah with the Preview Alliance podcast. This month we are replaying our most downloaded episodes. These episodes are the ones that have resonated the most with you guys. So if you're a longtime listener, this is a great refresher. And share this with a friend who may be new. If you're new, welcome, and we hope that these episodes are impactful to you like it has been for others. Thank you for being with us and stay tuned.

What Antenatal Anxiety Is

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Hey guys, welcome back to the Preview Alliance Podcast. It's Sarah and Whitney. Okay, so we're in our pregnancy education series. That's right. We just covered depression. Now let's talk about anxiety during pregnancy. So there's actually a term anti-anatal anxiety. Um it is common. People don't talk about it. Um, because you hear a lot of depression, yeah, but anxiety has a big play.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

It really does. One in five. I would honestly say it's probably a little bit more because we not everyone will report. Exactly. But then too, like clients that I work with, to my knowledge, they've never been any part of like a research project or any type of stat gathering. So that's like so we don't really know if that data is as accurate as it could be. I would almost dare say maybe three out of five.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Oh, yeah. And then people are not like we know this because we're in previous, and we, and like you said, that we have higher numbers than one in five that are expressing this. Mm-hmm. No one's checking in with them during their pregnancy about mental health. So if this we're gonna talk about what it is, the risk factors, the difference between like worry and anxiety. I think that's uh for sure, and what you can

Worry Versus Anxiety Spiral

SPEAKER_01 1:50

do. Yes. So what it is anxiety is feeling kind of like you're obsessing, your hyperventilating, panic attacks, heart palpitations, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, hot flashes. It can be physical and mental presentations. And so it's like, what's the difference between anxiety and worry?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

So worry is gonna be one of those more situational. Okay. It's not gonna be something that consumes you for 20 out of 24 hours a day. So worry is something like And worry probably has a light at the end of the tunnel.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

So it's it's like, okay, my kid is spiked a fever, I'm worried that he it's cold flu season. Exactly. I'm worried we're going down this way.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah. Anxiety would be. Oh my gosh, my child has to have, you know, flu, RSV, COVID, pneumonia, something really bad. And they're gonna end up at children's, they're gonna end up on a ventilator, they're gonna be an icy. You can't shake it. And it's gonna be, again, those spiraling intrusive thoughts. It's going to be worst case scenario, whereas, you know, as moms, we're gonna worry about our kids naturally. Right. But we could say, okay, I'm really worried because you woke up from your nap with a 104 fever. We should be worried about that. Yep. And so, you know, you call the pediatrician, you're worried, okay, well, if they end up positive for, you know, flu, RSV, COVID, they're gonna be out of school for a week at a minimum. How am I gonna juggle calling out of work for a week and keeping them well and keeping my smaller child well? And you're gonna be thinking through those things, which is a logical process. Right. And will not feel good because it is very worrisome. It is heavy, it is a lot to have to logistically deal with.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

But anxiety will take over your life.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

It will, and it will make you feel that inevitably it again, worst case scenario. Now, I'm not saying it's a best case scenario that you have to call out of work for a week. But we're also not in the ICU with our child on the ventilator two minutes after our kid popped a fever. Yeah. You know, that's where it becomes anxiety, is going to be that worst case scenario thinking we're gonna have those intrusive thoughts. And it impedes on our day-to-day. Absolutely. And you know, with anxiety, you almost feel like there's an impending doom you can't get away from. Yes. Almost like you've got a little black rain cloud just right there with you where worry is. Okay, they popped a fever. I'm gonna go ahead and give them Motrin and Tylenol, you know, what as I can. I'm gonna call the pediatrician, see if I can get them in there. If not, we're gonna go to pediatric urgent care. We're gonna get a swab. You may find yourself almost going into type A task organizer mode of okay, well, we need to do da-da-da-da-da. I need to go ahead and tell my work, hey, my kid popped a fever today. I know they can't go to school tomorrow, and tomorrow is Monday. Right. I'm gonna take them to urgent care and I'll keep you posted on if I have to take other days off of work. Right. Okay, task manager, right there. Boom, boom, boom. Gonna get our plan together because plans do help ease anxiety and worry. We know that. Yes. But if it's anxiety, again, you're thinking, well, what if we go to urgent care and they do have flu? And again, what if we do end up at children's and but what if they have a febrile seizure? I'm going to lose my mind if they have a febrile seizure. What if we're in a car accident on the way to the urgent care? Yeah. I mean, we are kind of spiraling, but we're going in different directions while we spiral. Oh, yeah. It's a lot. So anxiety is going to be one of those, there's no real control with it. You can't rationalize yourself out back to just the day-to-day things. It's like you're tumbling down a mountain, not a hill, a mountain. We're literally an avalanche starting. Exactly. Okay. Then worry is going to be like, okay, I don't like this, but again, task manager of we need to do da-da. I need to try and figure out how to do it. Yes. Okay. Because again, that gives us a sense of control and it gives us a plan. When we have a plan, our worry does tend to decrease. We're still concerned.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Because anxiety comes out of a protection mechanism to a point.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

It really does. And then it spirals to beyond. And worry, again, is that protective measure, but it's also okay, I need to take action.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Protective action.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Action versus being captured in this. Think of it like the flight, fight, or fawn. Yes. So worry can take you to the fight mode, which is task management, getting a game plan. Right. Anxiety is gonna put you in flight or fawn. So you're just like your brain is going, but you're kind of frozen in the moment.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Oh, a thousand. I love that. I totally resonate that.

How It Shows Up In Pregnancy

SPEAKER_01 6:35

So people might be like, okay, cool, what does that look like during pregnancy? Well, maybe you are losing sleep over thoughts, scary thoughts.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

You could be and I'm not saying that this is not a founded concern, because if you've experienced child loss before, it is a valid concern. Very. But you could always be worried about is my baby okay, especially if you cannot feel that baby kick. So you can be obsessive over counting the kicks, the movement. Feeling like you need to have an at-home doppler to keep track of the heart or easily listening to the heartbeat.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Not just like a weekly check-in. Right, or calling your doctor frequently for reassurance. Yeah. And then once given reassurance, that's still not enough.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Yeah, it it's temporary reassurance. Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Or just like we said, you're noticing your heartbeat, you're difficult to breathe, you're experiencing panic attacks, and you're or maybe you're obsessing over things now. Like everything has to be clean.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

I have to wipe things constantly. Or maybe we have to do things multiple times to avoid something bad happening.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

So this could be presenting during pregnancy. And again, with like we talked with depression, people, it's hard to kind of know it and see it because pregnancy can make you have these symptoms in a way. Yeah. Right? Because people can rationalize it. I'm pregnant for the first time. I'm I hear scary things, I'm afraid of my child. Yes, I'm more anxious, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:03

There's some justification. Absolutely. But again, it's when it spirals when we feel like we're frozen from that fear.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

And we're not doing anything like tasks to fix it. Correct. We're dwelling.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Now in pregnancy, that is a little bit harder. So hard. Because there's not a ton that we can do during pregnancy that is task-oriented. Right. Now, it let's throw a hypothetical out there. Let's just say a pregnant mama is driving to work and she gets rear-ended. Not a bad accident. Let me not life-threatening, but she gets rear-ended. So she's naturally concerned. Oh, yeah. So what she should do is call her OB, say, hey, I was in a fender bender this morning. I overall feel okay, but I really just need the baby to get checked on. Yeah. Absolutely. That is task management. Right. That gives you an action plan. Your OB needs to know about that anyway. Yes. And they would want you to come in and get checked.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

So keep those things in mind too of what is in your control, what is not within your control. Now, if you wake up at two o'clock in the morning, no bleeding, no physical trauma, nothing to make you panic, and all of a sudden you think, I have to go be seen, because what if? Well, it's one of those, okay, are you far enough along to feel the baby kick? And you're thinking, Well, I haven't felt the baby kick, at that point, always talk to your doctor about this. But I would say eat something with a little bit of sugar or have a little bit of caffeine. Yeah. See within 30 minutes if you can get baby to kicking. If not, then absolutely I would go ahead and go on to the hospital kind of thing. But if it's one of those you wake up and you think, oh, inevitably my baby is gone, and we don't have a reason to believe that, that's when I would use our grounding thoughts and say, okay, right now I don't have a reason, a tangible reason to say this is why I could have lost my baby. Right. Now, if I'm still feeling this freaked out about it in the morning, I will call my OB and see if they can just check for a heartbeat. Right. Those kinds of things.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

When it's hard too when you're pregnant because it's like you're growing this baby, but you have such little control. That is the hard part in the past. And it's like in your body, but you have such little control. Yeah. Now, risk

Risk Factors And High Risk Pregnancies

SPEAKER_01 10:15

factors for anxiety and pregnancy is very similar to when we talked about depression.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

So realize there's going to be a little bit of a repeat or an overlap with some of these.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

So I mean the same thing. History of mental health, anxiety.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah for yourself or family, trauma, substance abuse drugs, exec stress. If you're already a type A or anyogram one person, I always say type A equals type anxiety.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

If you've had a history of any type of pregnancy andor child loss, that will this pregnancy is super high risk. Exactly. Again, if you have a diagnosis of hypergro, you know, hyperemesis gravita, if you've got a diagnosis of gestational diabetes, if you've had a prior diagnosis of preoclampsia, you're gonna be on edge. So keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Now the big thing too is anxiety during pregnancy, we know is treatable by therapy, the same way we talked about with postpartum depression or and pregnancy depression is the earlier we can recognize, hey, something's feeling off, then we can intervene and we can get that help. Absolutely. Because you don't want to be stuck in that paralyzing worry, anxiety, miserable. Well, then you're not gonna be able to function. You're not so if you're recognizing it will limit your life. That's something you need to help. And I remember um having such anxiety during pregnancy, granted, because it was a high-risk pregnancy and stuff. I just felt, like you said, trapped, paralyzed, paralyzed. And I did not know at the time to reach out to therapy, but that would have been so beneficial to me.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Absolutely. Just

Therapy And Practical Coping Tools

SPEAKER_00 11:51

someone to process this with. So that's why we would encourage you if you don't have a therapist on board, um, you know, if you're in Alabama, kind of reach out to Previa Alliance, see what you can do there. Reach out to your insurance company, uh-huh, see who they cover you to go see. Exactly. Um, if you feel like you're not super comfortable doing therapy, because it does, you know, you do have to be vulnerable to do therapy. Right. Voice journal. Uh-huh. Get those things out, schedule that worry time. Oh, yes. So allot yourself 10 or 15 minutes as needed to pen and paper journal, voice journal, just process it however you need to process it, but set that alarm on your phone for no more than 15 minutes because then we start to dwell and spiral and all the things. Let it out. But give yourself an opportunity to feel your feels. Uh yes. Give yourself that opportunity. If you can, um, I know we're in Alabama, you know, we were 70 degrees earlier this week. Now we're 45. We don't really know what we're doing here with weather.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

We don't know where we're at.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

We we had tornadoes earlier this week, and now we had frosted windshields today. So we don't really know what we're doing. But if the weather is good, go for a walk. Go for a walk, do some, you know, grounding outside. Yes. Go barefoot out on the grass for a little bit. Yes, you know deep breaths, learning how to take that deep breath in.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Get at the top and let it out. That's right. Calm your body, sleep, prioritize your sleep as you can as best you can in pregnancy. You're in pregnancy, and that that may look like naps. That may look like less time than you normally. Yeah. And something we're seeing a lot in previous too is we're getting a lot of spikes of anxiety in the first trimester. Oh, absolutely. And I Harvard actually says that's a thing because our hormone influx, and that's when they would expect to see the greatest amount of anxiety. Absolutely. So if you're in that first trimester and you're like, whoa, what the heck? I've never experienced this before. Uh-huh. Check in on it. Yeah. Call it what it is. If you want to reach out for support, then go for it. Go for it. If you want to say, let me ground myself, let me do my work, let me work on my walks, let me just say this to someone and let's check in in a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

Let's use our toolbox tools.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Which we let's use those. So many of those. And then if I feel this way in two weeks, then I'll reach out.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

And that's fine too. Because the important thing is that person said, Hey, something's up. Something's up. So we want you to capture that. You know, it's like you a wildfire, right? You want to smell that smoke and find it when it's little. Exactly. You don't want it taken over the whole forest. No. And so mental health's the same way. So that's why we start in pregnancy. We give you this education. And so if again, let's say it again, like we said into depression. If this is resonating with you, you're not a bad mom. This is not your fault. And there is help. Yep. Absolutely. That's what we're here for. All right, guys, till next time. That's right. Maternal

Closing Message And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 14:49

mental health is as important as physical health. The Preview Alliance podcast was created for and by moms dealing with postpartum depression and all its variables, like anxiety, anger, and even apathy. Hosted by CEO, founder Sarah Parkhurst, and licensed clinical social worker Whitney Gay, each episode focuses on specific issues relevant to pregnancy and postpartum. Join us and hear how other moms have overcome mental health challenges as well as access tips and suggestions on dealing with your own challenges as moms. You can also browse our podcast library and listen to previous episodes at any time. Please know you're not alone on this journey. We're here to help.