Early Pregnancy Anxiety - support groups?

[contentsmayb]

I am 9 weeks pregnant, it took us ages to conceive through IVF and because of the previous losses, this pregnancy is making me very anxious and I am not happy a tiny bit. It probably does not help that I have bleeds on and off and though everything looks fine on scans, it causes me severe anxiety. I am waiting for bad things to happen every day.

I was wondering if there are any in-person support groups that exist where anxious parents can come together, meet and talk about all of their fears together. It feels very isolating. I think most antenatal classes start after week 28. What about us early birds who stress about stuff all the time? Appreciate any advice on how to cope during this stressful time. Does it get any better? How did you find help?

Hi OP,

congratulations on your pregnancy and I’m sorry that your anxiety is causing you to not be able to enjoy it. I have no experience of this but didn’t want to not respond. I have worked with teenagers who have anxiety triggered by a number of different things. If there are no specific early pregnancy support groups I would try a general anxiety specialist, if not privately then seek anxiety support through your GP. Anxiety is anxiety regardless of its trigger so I’m sure you could find support this way. I hope things get better for you :)

If you can afford it, I’d look at private counselling, someone who specialises in fertility and pregnancy. I did this after a miscarriage and it helped so much. Otherwise speak to your midwife or GP but may take a while to get a referral

I had to go through perinatal mental health but it was a battle to get to see them and they only decided to take me on in the end because I had previous PND (despite having IVF and recurrent miscarriage like yourself).

I think the above PPs suggestion of a specialist counsellor might be a good idea.

Also, yes it does get better. I found that once I could feel the baby moving I was far less anxious as I had concrete proof that it was/is alive and well. I also had a NIPT test done at 10.5 weeks and it was also a massive relief when that came back clear.

Thank you very much girls for you advice. I do already have counselling. It helps I think, I would have probably been much worse than this if I didn't do therapy. This IVF journey just made me feel like you go up the ladder and then you fall down to the bottom. And it's been over and over again. Really hope it will get better.

Besides therapy, do you have a personal support group (friends who understand, etc)? I just don't have anyone in this position, so I just keep reading about strangers online. Do pregnancies always feel like an isolated experience? I almost feel like there should be more support for women and families in general....

@contentsmayb Yes on here I'm in a group for IVF mums to be and one for recurrent miscarriages too. They're a great help as everyone has been through the same experience so can definitely relate and understand the anxiety.

Are those online groups? Would you mind sharing?

They're just threads here. There's one called 'Pregnancy after loss support' for example (I think as I can't paste the link) and is on the Pregnancy forum.

Thanks girls. I think I was mainly asking about in-person groups, similar to antenatal classes.

@contentsmayb have you heard of the Lily Mae foundation? They do in person support groups for pregnancy after loss. It is West Midlands based, not sure where you live x

Thank you very much! @My2boysaremyworld

@contentsmayb hope they can help you. I'm looking to going to it this month x