#94 | Lisa's Story of Postpartum Anxiety: The Terror of Intrusive Thoughts

April 21, 2021

In this episode, Lisa shared out loud for the first time the full extent of the intrusive thoughts that have been haunting and terrifying her postpartum. When women suffer from a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder such as postpartum anxiety, depression or psychosis they can suffer from intrusive thoughts such as: fear of drowning the baby in the bath, imagining yourself or someone else dropping the baby, falling down the stairs with the baby, or even imagining yourself or someone else harming the baby with a knife. 

Lisa volunteered to speak with us about her struggle, in hopes of bringing awareness and help to anyone who may be struggling with intrusive thoughts postpartum.  An important takeaway from this episode is to recognize that if a mother expresses a fear of being alone with her baby or expresses thoughts of harming herself or the baby, imagine those words on a billboard as a cry for help. 

Professional support is required and is readily available by trained specialists. If you don’t know where to begin, you can contact Postpartum Support International at 1-800-944-4773.

Postpartum support groups are offered every week on Tuesday mornings @downtobirthshow.

* * * * * * * * * *

If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends.

Between episodes, connect with us on Instagram @DownToBirthShow to see behind-the-scenes production clips and join the conversation by responding to our questions and polls related to pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood. You can reach us at Contact@DownToBirthShow.com or call (802) 438-3696 (802-GET-DOWN). We are always happy to hear from our listeners and appreciate questions for our monthly Q&A episodes. To join our monthly newsletter, text "downtobirth" to 22828.

You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week!

Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/cynthiaovergard)

View Episode Transcript

If you enjoyed this podcast episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends.

Share this episode: 
[DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_PLUS]

Between episodes, connect with us on Instagram @DownToBirthShow to see behind-the-scenes production clips and join the conversation by responding to our questions and polls related to pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood.

You can reach us at Contact@DownToBirthShow.com or call (802) 438-3696 (802-GET-DOWN). 

To join our monthly newsletter, text “downtobirth” to 22828.

About Cynthia Overgard

Cynthia is a published writer, advocate, childbirth educator and postpartum support specialist in prenatal/postpartum healthcare and has served thousands of clients since 2007. 

About Trisha Ludwig

Trisha is a Yale-educated Certified Nurse Midwife and International Board Certified Lactation Counselor. She has worked in women's health for more than 15 years.

Want to be on the show?

We'd love to hear your story. 
Please fill out the form if you are interested in being on the show.

screen linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram