The Bringing Baby Home Workshop is designed to equip expectant and new parents with the necessary knowledge and skills to navigate the joys and challenges that lie ahead.
Becoming a parent is a desire to experience a sense of calm and confidence, but often the reality proves to be more challenging than anticipated. Various obstacles can arise, leaving unprepared parents feeling overwhelmed.
Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) encompass a range of mental health conditions that can occur during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period. These disorders include depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and postpartum psychosis. PMADs can affect individuals who are pregnant or giving birth, their partners, and people of all genders.
Several risk factors contribute to the development of PMADs, some of which are beyond an individual’s control, such as family and personal history. However, there are factors that can be influenced and managed.
The Bringing Baby Home Workshop offers a multitude of strategies to enhance resilience. Let’s explore a few of these strategies:
- Small Things Often: Your overall happiness is akin to a muscle that doesn’t instantly weaken or strengthen. Ignoring symptoms of depression or anxiety in the hope that they will disappear often leads to increased feelings of distress. By seeking the necessary support and cultivating habits that bring joy and strike a balance between challenge and ease, one can gradually experience greater happiness. Engaging in activities that bring pleasure strengthens the brain’s pleasure pathways.Bringing Baby Home presents creative ideas for “small things often” that foster and maintain a couple’s friendship, promote happiness, and facilitate conflict management. Research has shown that this workshop effectively reduces the occurrence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in both mothers and fathers. Here are three specific examples of strategies from the Bringing Baby Home program that can help reduce the risk of mood or anxiety disorders:
- Touch Rituals: Explore various touch rituals that work best for you. Some suggestions include giving your partner a six-second kiss or hug, dancing together, trading massages, snuggling with your partner or kids, taking a bath with your baby, and planning for physical intimacy with your partner.
- Express Your Needs Clearly and Often: In the Bringing Baby Home Workshop, the concept of a “bid” is introduced as a way to express needs or ask for help. The workshop emphasizes the importance of communicating needs clearly and respectfully using “I” statements. Couples who thrive in their relationships often articulate their needs by expressing their emotions and requesting specific actions. Unclear bids can create ambiguity, leading to unmet needs. If needs go unexpressed for an extended period, they can accumulate and result in negative expressions such as sarcasm, mockery, or criticism. To prevent this, it is crucial to communicate openly and be as clear as possible about your needs.
- Stress-Reducing Conversations: Empathy plays a vital role in reducing stress during conversations. By actively listening to your partner and making them feel heard and valued, rather than solely focusing on solving their problems, you can help them alleviate stress. Additionally, learning to ask insightful questions can empower your partner to discover answers on their own. The ability to engage in conversations that make you feel seen and heard is a precious gift, whether with your partner or a friend.
A Positive Cycle: Relationship strain is a risk factor for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Research indicates that approximately two-thirds of couples experience significant increases in hostility when they have a baby. The Bringing Baby Home Workshop aims to reduce hostility and strengthen relationships. It is important to note that babies are highly perceptive to emotional cues. When parents employ the “small things often” approach to improve their well-being, their baby is likely to feel better as well. This positive cycle can lead to reduced crying in infants as parents experience improved emotional states.
If you are at a higher risk for PMADs or are displaying symptoms during pregnancy, it is essential to discuss your concerns with your healthcare provider.
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