OCD While Pregnant. Help Please!

[Tambini87]

Hi, my wife is 40 weeks +3 into pregnancy. So far the whole pregnancy has had no complications until a week ago. My wife has OCD which has been manageable over the last few years. We have our own routine which means we live a normal healthy life.

The last week she's been having such bad anxiety that she will become very sick will a illness. We've been to the gp a couple of times who reassured she will be ok and she is not ill. However she continues to have these thoughts which causes her panic/anxiety attacks.

My question is. Is this caused by her hormones due to her being so late into pregnancy? Has anyone has similar experiences? And do you think these emotions will subside after the birth?

Her main concern is being this anxious when trying to raise a baby.

Hormones in pregnancy & after birth can really really affect mental health disorders...I have OCD and generally worry day to day about my own & others health/safety...to a degree we live normally but I'd be called a "worrier" to someone who didn't know me for example...After I had my last baby...He actually did get very sick after he was born...He recovered well.But I didnt...That was a trigger for me & I spent his first year very unwell & constantly worrying/believing he was unwell...Taking his temperature multiple times a day...Many g.p visits.Many sleepless nights with restless anxiety...It can get tough after a baby.Just try to make sure you seem confident if you see she is being irrational...I needed constant reassurance that I was being silly...Hopefully your baby is born without a stressful birth/after birth...and she wont get any triggers too early after the baby...That in addition to normal hormone ups and downs after a baby is really unfortunate...But after birth hormones can affect mental health.So prepare yourself to keep an eye on her.

Thank you for your reply. It sounds like you found a manageable situation which I'm very happy for you. Ive seen how ocd can cripple a person.

My wife trigger are to do with safety. For example checking the plugs are switched off, repeatedly checking that the house door is locked.

This anxiety that only happened since week 39 is to do with her own health. Which is new. Fears that becoming sick meaning she cannot be there for our child.

Which is why I'm thinking it's more of a pregnancy hormones playing it's part which is escalating her OCD.

We're aware hormones will change after birth so the anxiety very well can be there. Our midwife is aware and will help with referrals. And observations.

This is not exactly the same but with my second pregnancy from about 12 ish weeks I developed an ocd surrounding cleaning the house, specifically the floors... we have white painted wood floor boards in most of the house. It was constant, I'd Hoover and clean them multiple times a day, a lot of our day to day life revolved around me cleaning them and it was really difficult!! It stressed me out constantly, all I can say is it slowly settled down after the birth and now (two years on) although I still clean the floors every other day, and Hoover everyday it's much better!!

My OCD has always been checking and safety based (the hob gets checked around 10 times a day) but I’ve managed over the last few years to get it under control and it’s now a very small part of my life. I have noticed though that over the past few weeks (am 39+1) that I have an overwhelming need to clean that at first I thought was ‘just’ nesting but on close analysis is really about my worries about germs and the baby. It actually causes me distress if things are messed up which isn’t really standard behaviour for me.

I think at the end of pregnancy there is a surge of hormones but also the realisation that change is inevitably happening so my brain is trying to regain some kind of control over the situation.