The truth is that hanging up a new calendar on the wall will not change how you feel nor does it define where you are or should be in your healing journey.
With that in mind, here’s 5 tips to cope with feelings of loss in the new year.
Exhale: A Blog for Women’s Mental & Emotional Health
Postpartum Support International and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s Health Resource Services Administration (HRSA) recently launched the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline. This support line is truly the first of its kind in that it is specifically focused on providing mental health support for moms, and even their partners and families.
Hey there, NOLA mom, how are you?
I’m going to guess the answer is, “I’m really not okay.” I hear ya. It has been a really rough last few months, and not many of us are “okay.” And guess what? THAT is okay!
To say that life has been rough since March 2020 is an understatement. Most of us have been operating in survival mode since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between trying to figure out balancing the roles of homeschool teacher, childcare provider, and lunch and snack lady, plus working a full-time job and trying to keep the house in some kind of livable condition, there has been little physical and mental space to decompress and heal from the stress and trauma associated with COVID-19
For any woman who has found herself pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic, expectations have had to be adjusted based on the requirements and guidelines of the doctors’ offices and delivery settings. And while these adjustments have required pregnant women in New Orleans to shift their expectations, there has been a fair amount of time to process and accept those changes and disappointments.
But one thing that no expectant mom was prepared to deal with is the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. For women who are still pregnant and for those who are newly postpartum, life is currently filled with so many unknowns, so much worry, anxiety, and sadness. Where you are in your pregnancy or postpartum experience may impact the intensity of those emotions and the types of questions you find your anxious mind mulling over.
Pregnancy is a time of expectation and dreaming. The anticipation of your baby’s arrival is typically filled with excitement about the moment when you will finally get to hold your little one in your arms. When your pregnancy or birth don’t go as expected, you may find yourself struggling emotionally and mentally. While the birth of a baby is a natural thing that the female body was designed to do, it is an experience that is ripe with opportunity for things to not go as planned. When things don’t go as expected, it can be traumatic.
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