Postnatal Anxiety

[Footballwidow88]

I had my daughter almost 4 months ago (first baby) and I absolutely adore being a mum but I can’t shake awful thoughts of something happening to her. I keep having visions of falling down the stairs with her or dropping her on a hard floor.

It’s got to the point where I’m not sleeping and I’ve started having panic attacks. I’m scared to tell anyone in case they think I’m a bad mum or I can’t cope looking after her on my own.

I’m fine when my husband is home or I’m with someone else but the minute we’re alone I panic in case something happens to her. I love my girl so much but this is affecting me badly now.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any help would be appreciated.

You need to contact your GP. This is very common. A mixture of antidepressants and CBT really helped. The tablets kicked in really quickly and were amazing. I didn't have to stay on them for too long either. Just make sure that you taper off them incredibly slowly.

Hi I've got a 11 week old and going through same thing. I keep thinking I'm going to fall down the stairs with her and I've been watching her sleep constantly to check her breathing to point I am getting no rest. I've also got PND and some. Other stuff going on. I spoke to a MH nurse yesterday. I was petrified they were going to say I'm a bad mum and they would take my baby away because of some of the intrusive thoughts I've been having. But it was fine! They are there to help and I've been referred for some CBT. Its scary but it sounds like you really need to ask for some support. Is your health visitor approachable? Or your GP? My area allow self referrals to the MH service so that might be worth considering?

Whatever you do try not to be hard on yourself about how you are feeling. As the PP said its very common. Also you are doing the best thing for your baby and yourself by reaching out for support as scary as it seems right now.