Break Free from Maternal Anxiety

Dr Fiona Challacombe is a Lecturer in Perinatal Psychology in the Section of Women's Mental Health at the IOPPN, King's College London and a Clinical Psychologist at the Centre for Anxiety Disorders & Trauma, Maudsley Hospital, South London & Maudsley NHS Trust.Dr Catherine Green is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Perinatal Mental Health Service, South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust.Dr Victoria Bream is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Oxford Health Specialist Psychological Interventions Clinic & Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Severe anxiety affects a huge number of women in pregnancy and the postnatal period, making a challenging time even more difficult. You may be suffering from uncontrollable worries about pregnancy and birth, distressing intrusive thoughts of accidental or deliberate harm to the baby, or fears connected to traumatic experiences. This practical self-help guide provides an active route out of feeling anxious. Step-by-step, the book teaches you to apply cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) techniques in the particular context of pregnancy and becoming a new parent in order to overcome maternal anxiety in all its forms. Working through the book you will gain understanding of your anxiety and how factors from the past and present may be playing a role in how you feel. Together with practical exercises and worksheets to move through at your own pace, you will gain the tools you need to help you move forward and enjoy parenthood.

Provides the understanding and tools needed to help free yourself from perinatal anxiety, with clear examples and evidence-based techniques.

1. Introduction; 2. Persistent and distressing worry; 3. Unwanted intrusive thoughts of harm; 4. Specific phobias affecting pregnancy and the postnatal period; 5. Panic attacks and health worries; 6. Feeling anxious around other people; 7. Coping with traumatic experiences while pregnant and after birth; 8. Anxiety about pregnancy and birth; 9. Anxiety and adjusting to motherhood; 10. Beyond the perinatal period: taking your new skills forward into parenthood.