Understanding Perinatal Mood and Anxiety DisordersUnderstanding Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Horizon Heart to Heart
Conversation with two perinatal mental health specialists explaining common mood and anxiety disorders around pregnancy and postpartum, including their signs, treatment options and impact on both mothers and partners. The episode focuses on normalising these struggles, challenging stigma and highlighting practical ways families can access and accept support.
0:00•5 Mar 2020
Understanding Perinatal Mood, Anxiety and the Hidden Strain on New Parents
Episode Overview
- Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are common, treatable conditions affecting many women from conception through the first year after birth.
- Baby blues usually ease within two weeks, while postpartum depression tends to worsen and can include deep fatigue, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts.
- Postpartum anxiety and OCD often involve intrusive thoughts and intense checking behaviours around the baby’s safety, which can be safely discussed in therapy.
- Partners can also experience significant postpartum depression and anxiety, and are encouraged to seek support and even attend sessions with the mother and baby.
- Bringing babies to counselling, involving the wider support network, and building social connection all help new parents feel less alone and more supported.
“If you know a woman who's had a baby or who's been pregnant, you probably know a woman who's experienced postpartum depression, anxiety, or OCD.”
What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This conversation from Horizon’s Heart to Heart podcast shifts the focus to a crucial piece of the puzzle: women’s mental health during pregnancy and after birth. Host Christina Pearl talks with mental health counsellors Amber Blanchard and Diana Springer, both specialists in perinatal mental health.
They explain what perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) actually mean, covering the period from trying to conceive, through pregnancy, and into the first year after birth.
You’ll hear them calmly dismantle myths, like the idea that these conditions are rare or “bizarre” – as Amber puts it, *“If you know a woman who's had a baby or who's been pregnant, you probably know a woman who's experienced postpartum depression, anxiety, or OCD.”* The episode lays out the difference between short-term “baby blues” and more serious depression, anxiety and OCD, with clear red flags partners and families can watch for.
There’s honest talk about intrusive thoughts, why they feel so frightening, and why having them does **not** mean someone wants to harm their baby. Christina, Amber and Diana also get practical: how to get linked into Horizon’s services, why women are urged to bring their babies to sessions, and how partners and even whole families can be brought into appointments.
They stress that treatment is effective, that medication is carefully considered around breastfeeding and safety, and that no one is forced into anything they don’t want. For anyone in recovery, or supporting someone who is, this episode adds another layer of understanding: parenting can be beautiful and brutal at the same time, and needing help doesn’t make anyone a bad mum, dad or partner.
Could this be the nudge you or someone you care about needs to ask for support a little sooner?
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