PTSD and pregnancy

[legofootcasualty]

Hi, does anyone else have PTSD in pregnancy? (Not pregnancy related)

I have very high levels of stress and anxiety due to this, yoga/meditation etc makes it worse as I focus on it. I'm doing a pretty good job of being calmer and more relaxed atm though.

Hello there. Yes, I am currently 32 weeks pregnant and suffer with PTSD following the loss of my son a few years ago. Before getting pregnant, I had lots of counselling and was on a low dose of Sertraline, both of which helped. The pregnancy hormones and anxiety brought it all back though. I ended up having some ad-hoc counselling sessions with my old counsellor, remained on the Sertraline (I originally planned to wean off) and cut myself a lot of slack. If I needed to sleep, I slept. I told my boss so she understood if I couldn't manage work. I leaned heavily on my husband, who was terrific. I can't say it was easy, but the time passed and baby (so far) has done well. I've also left work quite early (luckily I have a lot of annual leave to use) so I can rest and be out of the stressful work environment.

Babies are very good at taking what they need during pregnancy. It's not good for you to feel stressed and you should look after yourself but try not to worry that anxiety will harm your baby. Seek support whenever you need it and be easy on yourself as far as possible.

Yes I have PTSD linked to a previous sexual assault.
I have also remained on my medication and even though my mental health is pretty stable I agreed to be referred to the perinatal mental health team though I haven't seen them yet.