Pregnancy loss can be devastating, regardless of whether it is early or late in pregnancy or in the short period after a baby is born. In many instances, similar emotions are experienced when a couple learns that their fertility treatments were unsuccessful. Here the well-known psychologist Amy Wenzel applies the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy—a thoroughly-researched approach for treating mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and stress-related disorders— to the experience of reproductive loss. She offers strategies for coping with loss and provides a step-by-step guide to reengaging in life. With warmth and compassion, she helps readers journey toward healing.
For people experiencing infertility, wanting a baby is a craving unlike any other. The intensity of their longing is matched only by the complexity of the emotional maze they must navigate. With insight and compassion, Drs. Janet Jaffe, Martha Diamond, and David Diamond-specialists in the field of Reproductive Psychology who have each experienced their own struggle with infertility-give couples the tools to: *Reduce their sense of helplessness and isolation *Identify their mates' coping styles to erase unfair expectations *Listen to their "unsung lullabies"--their conscious and unconscious dreams about having a family--to mourn the losses of infertility and move on. Ground-breaking, wise, and compassionate, Unsung Lullabies is a necessary companion for anyone coping with infertility.
A Silent Sorrow has long been considered the "bible" for families seeking emotional and practical support after a pregnancy loss. Well organized, easily accessible, and filled with practical suggestions for each topic it covers, A Silent Sorrowis a positive first step for bereaved parents and their families, providing support and guidance to help resolve thegrief and enable them to look to the future with hope.
A comprehensive guide for the clinical practitioner. The authors draw from a wealth of empirical research as well as numerous case studies to provide a deep understanding of the experience of infertility and how to help guide patients through the process.ùMary P. Riddle, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University, World Campus --
What to Expect When You're No Longer Expecting When your baby dies, you find yourself in a life you never expected. And even though pregnancy and infant loss are common, they're not common to you. Instead, you feel like a stranger in your own body, surrounded by well-meaning people who often don't know how to support you. What you need during this time is not a book offering easy answers. You need a safe place to help you navigate what comes next, such as: · Coping with a postpartum body without a baby in your arms. · Facing social isolation and grief invalidation. · Wrestling with faith when you feel let down by God. · Dealing with the overwhelming process of making everyday decisions. · Learning to move forward after loss. · Creating a legacy for your child. In Unexpecting, bereaved mom Rachel Lewis is the friend you never knew you'd need, walking you through the unique grief of baby loss. When nothing about life after loss makes sense . . . this book will. "The guide that all parents experiencing pregnancy loss need when leaving the hospital grief-stricken, without a baby in their arms."--LINDSEY M. HENKE, founder of Pregnancy After Loss Support
"In this book you’ll find a thoughtfully edited chronicle of the unique convergence of genetic, hormonal, social, and environmental forces that influence a woman’s mental health over the course of her life. Both comprehensive and nuanced, Women’s Reproductive Mental Health Across the Lifespan captures the science, clinical observation, and collective wisdom of experts in the field. Professionals and laypersons alike are well-advised to make room on their bookshelves for this one!" - Margaret Howard, Ph.D., Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Women & Infants Hospital, Providence RI "This outstanding collection of work is an important, timely, and much needed resource. Dr. Diana Lynn Barnes has been instrumental in bringing attention to the needs of perinatal women for decades. In Women's Reproductive Health Across the Lifespan, she brilliantly unites the medical world of reproductive life events with the psychiatric and psychological world of mental health issues associated with them. Her expertise, combined with contributions by distinguished leaders in the field, create a volume of work that should be studied carefully by every medical and mental health provider who works with women." - Karen Kleiman, MSW, The Postpartum Stress Center, Author of Therapy and the Postpartum Woman "Finally, a book that addresses the entire scope of women’s reproductive mental health spanning the gamut from puberty to menopause. The list of chapter contributors reads like a who’s who of international experts. Unique to this book is its focus on the interaction of genetics, hormonal fluctuations, and the social environment. It is a must addition for the libraries of clinicians and researchers in women’s reproductive mental health". - Cheryl Tatano Beck, DNSc, CNM, FAAN, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, School of Nursing, University of Connecticut Pregnancy and childbirth are generally viewed as joyous occasions. Yet for numerous women, these events instead bring anxiety, depression, and emotional distress. Increased interest in risk reduction and early clinical intervention is bringing reproductive issues to the forefront of women's mental health. The scope of Women's Reproductive Mental Health across the Lifespan begins long before the childbearing years, and continues well after those years have ended. Empirical findings, case examples, and dispatches from emerging areas of the field illuminate representative issues across the continuum of women's lives with the goal of more effective care benefitting women and their families. Chapter authors discuss advances in areas such as fertility treatment and contraception, and present current thinking on the psychological impact of pregnancy loss, menopause, cancer, and other stressors. These expert contributors emphasize the connections between an individual's biology and psychology and cultural expectations in shaping women's mental health, and the balance between a client's unique history and current clinical knowledge clinicians need to address disorders. Included in the coverage: The experience of puberty and emotional wellbeing. Body image issues and eating disorders in the childbearing years. Risk assessment and screening during pregnancy. Normal and pathological postpartum anxiety. Mood disorders and the transition to menopause. The evolution of reproductive psychiatry. A reference with an extended shelf life, Women's Reproductive Mental Health across the Lifespan enhances the work of researchers and practitioners in social work, clinical psychology, and psychiatry, and has potential relevance to all health care professionals.
Nearly all new mothers experience some apprehension about the transition to parenthood, but some women's symptoms reach the point of meeting diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder. Indeed, new research suggests that in the perinatal period-which includes both pregnancy and the first year postpartum-some types of anxiety are more common than depression. The time is ripe to integrate and evaluate the research on anxiety disorders that occur at this stage of life. This book describes the various ways in which perinatal anxiety is expressed in women, as well as approaches for assessment and treatment. The first half of the book describes the five main types of perinatal anxiety-worry and generalized anxiety, obsessions and compulsions, panic attacks, social anxiety, and childbirth-related fear and trauma-and presents a biopsychosocial model. Chapters in this half discuss the nature, prevalence, and effects of each anxiety disorder, comorbidity between perinatal anxiety and perinatal depression, and risk factors for perinatal anxiety. The second half of the book covers the assessment and treatment of perinatal anxiety, including pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, psychoeducation, and self-help resources. All of the chapters draw extensively from the research literature, and engaging case studies bring the material to life throughout the book. This volume will be a tremendous resource for clinical psychologists, counselors, obstetricians, nurses, social workers, psychiatrists, and others who work with pregnant and postpartum women, as well as researchers and graduate students in any of these fields.
This book is a simple book of love written for you, a mom pregnant again after loss, from other loss moms who have been where you are now. In the pages of this book, we share letters of love from our hearts to yours with the hope that, maybe, in the darkest, loneliest hours of grief and fear, you will find a little bit of comfort in the words offered here. Our deepest desire is for you to know that you are not alone. We are with you. When needed, let us carry your hope for you when it feels impossible to find. Let us wrap you in love and be a light in the darkness as you carry both hope and fear and engage in the most courageous act - to choose for life after you have known death.
