Anxiety and Depression Following a Miscarriage
Supporting women after miscarriage and through new pregnancies
In the United States about 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. This means two in ten women will experience the loss of child to miscarriage. Loss of a pregnancy is a shocking and traumatic event for women and their families. Most women experience a period of intense emotion and distress when grieving their loss with feelings sometimes of intense guilt, anger, and sadness. These feelings generally lessen after six weeks to several months.
Sometimes however these feelings linger becoming depression and many women also experience significant anxiety. Almost twenty percent of women who experience miscarriage develop symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. This depression and/or anxiety can linger for years sometimes waning and reappearing as long as three years after the incident. It is important to address these symptoms and support women through their experiences to improve overall mental health and long-term happiness of the mother as well as health of a future pregnancy.
Women who’ve experienced miscarriage often experience a greater degree of anxiety throughout their future pregnancies compared with those who haven’t experienced miscarriage. Anxiety, depression, and stress during a pregnancy are risk factors for negative outcomes for mothers and children. Anxiety in pregnancy is associated with shorter gestation and has adverse implications for fetal neurological as well as physical development. Anxiety during pregnancy is especially harmful. Chronic stress and depressive symptoms in mothers during pregnancy are associated with lower birth weight infants and impact infant development.
During pregnancy it can be harder to decide whether feelings of low mood or stress are just baby blues and/or normal worries during pregnancy or something that needs more attention. Sometime symptoms of pregnancy mimic those of depression and anxiety.
Symptoms of depression can include the following:
- Being low or in a depressed mood most of the time for at least two weeks. You may experience sadness, feel hopeless, empty, or generally blah.
- Things that you once enjoyed don’t make you happy
- You may become self-focused, things around you cease to matter
- Feelings of guilt
- Sense of worthlessness
- Low energy
- Have trouble concentrating
- Appetite changes
- Sleep pattern changes including sleeping too much or not enough
- Have thoughts of suicide
Women who have experienced a miscarriage are at higher risk for many types of anxiety. Type and symptoms of an anxiety disorder can include the following.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms
- Excessive worry that you can’t control
- Feeling irritable
- Muscle tension and/or aches
- Disrupted sleep pattern
- Feeling antsy or restless, unable to relax
- Feeling tired
- Inability to concentrate
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms
- Recurrent, persistent, intrusive thoughts
- Compulsions to relieve those thoughts through repetitive thoughts or behaviors
Panic Disorder Symptoms
- Recurrent panic attacks
- Persistent fear of having a panic attack
In addition to risk to babies, mother with depression and anxiety have higher rates of suicide, pregnancy termination, preeclampsia, preterm labor, C-section, poor nutrition, use of alcohol and drugs, trouble becoming attached to their babies, and postpartum depression or anxiety.
Experts agree that depression and anxiety require medical attention. But deciding how to treat them in pregnancy can be challenging especially in severe cases. There are a number of treatment options available for women who experience depression and/or anxiety during pregnancy. The treatment may depend on the severity of the symptoms. For mild to moderate depression, psychotherapy, diet enhancement with Omega-3 essential fatty acids, light therapy, and acupuncture have been found to relieve symptoms. For more severe cases medication may help.
If you’re pregnant and you’re having depression or anxiety symptoms, talk to your OB-GYN or midwife. They can make assessments and help you decide on the best treatment plan and connect you with the appropriate mental health care provider if appropriate.
Danielle Older, MSW, LISW-S, CCTP
Danielle is one of our maternal mental health therapists and the founder of River Root Counseling. Her therapeutic style is individual, evidence-based, and unique to best serve each individual client. Danielle will work with you, at your pace, cheering you on and empowering you as you accomplish your therapeutic goals. Danielle values the therapeutic relationship and works to make each session beneficial and helpful for her clients. Danielle is a mother herself and understands the roller coaster that parenting, and motherhood, can sometimes feel like.
Call River Root at 330-595-4563
Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervision Designation (Ohio) – I.2002068-SUPV
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP)
Bachelor’s of Social Work – University of Akron
Master’s in Social Work – Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Schedule a consultation here.