I need perinatal support
Learn more about common emotional experiences in the perinatal period and how our service can support your wellbeing.
Pregnancy and early parenthood can feel harder than expected. You may notice times when you’re feeling low, anxious, overwhelmed, or emotionally disconnected, and you might be unsure whether what you’re experiencing is “normal”. It’s common to have these questions, and support is available.
On this page you'll find information about:
Understanding perinatal mental health
Perinatal mental health refers to emotional wellbeing during pregnancy and up to two years after birth. This period brings significant physical, emotional, and life changes, which can affect how you think, feel, and cope day to day.
Many people experience emotional ups and downs during pregnancy or after having a baby. For some, these feelings can become more persistent or overwhelming and may start to affect daily life, relationships, sleep, or enjoyment of parenthood. Perinatal mental health difficulties are common, and experiencing them does not reflect failure or weakness.
Emotional challenges before and after birth
Some of the most common emotional challenges during the perinatal period include:
- Low mood, tearfulness, or loss of interest in things you usually enjoy
- Anxiety, excessive worry, panic, or intrusive thoughts
- Feeling overwhelmed, irritable, disconnected, or struggling to bond with your baby
Everyone’s experience is different, and you may notice symptoms come and go or change over time.
Signs that extra support may help
You may benefit from additional support if you:
- Feel persistently low, anxious, or emotionally numb
- Find it difficult to cope with daily tasks or care for yourself
- Experience intrusive or distressing thoughts that feel hard to manage
- Notice changes in sleep, appetite, or concentration linked to your mood
- Feel isolated, unsupported, or uncertain about how to talk about how you’re feeling
- Are struggling to understand or process difficult experiences from your pregnancy or birth
If any of above signs are affecting your wellbeing or lasting more than a couple of weeks, speaking to a professional can be an important step. This could be your midwife, health visitor, GP or a Talking Therapist.
How can Talking Therapies provide Perinatal Support?
There are many ways our service can help you work through your feelings and develop practical strategies to support your wellbeing. Our services include:
- Guided Self-Help
- A variety of Talking Therapies
- Online Self-Help Programmes
- Group Therapy and Self-Management Courses including our Maternal Wellbeing course
- Wellbeing Webinars
Talking therapies can help you make sense of your anxiety and take control of it, so you can feel better.
Our groups and courses can give you the opportunity to hear from others going through similar experiences or facing the same challenges as you. This can help you gain a better understanding of your own problems and feel less alone. Learn more here.
Explore our Wellness Workshops and Webinars
Our wellbeing workshops cover topics such as maternal wellbeing, anxiety, worry, depression, sleep hygiene and more. They provide insights into signs and symptoms, practical guidance and techniques to help boost your mood, as well as resources for additional support.