Hi all,
Can anyone help? I am 32 and my OH and I would really like to have a child/ children. However, I'm desperately afraid of the whole business of pregnancy and childbirth. My main fears are:
- getting ill - I was very ill with ME for many years when I was younger and am afraid it will come back when pg/ after birth due to hormones.
- childbirth - I think about this every day and feel absolute panic, often to the point of being in tears. I'm afraid of the pain, having no control and being exhausted, and of possible after effects of vb or cs (cs doesn't seem a less scary option). I feel that most people have some terrible after effects but no-one talks about it so it isnt widely known.
- pregnancy - I'm afraid of the pain/ unpleasantness of this but mainly am afraid of going through 9 months of severe anxiety/ panic about childbirth.
- post natal depression - having been depressed in the past I am very frightened of this.
All of these fears have led my OH and me to consider adoption but I'm not sure how good a reason "I'm petrified of everything" would be for getting approved! I'd prefer to have a biological child and would at least like to feel I'd given the idea fair consideration with proper information. I've read posts on here and people talk about getting referred etc but is there anything when you aren't pregnant yet? There is no way on earth I'm getting pg right now with the way I feel. Likewise I do not want ordinary counselling - I've had this many times and need something where someone knows about the subject and can give me proper information.