Pregnancy and Early Childhood within Trafford Talking Therapies

Pregnancy and early parenthood can be both an exciting and overwhelming time. Becoming a parent is a major life change, and it can come with a whole host of emotions, thoughts, expectations and role changes.

As many as 1 in 5 women¹ can experience emotional difficulties and at least 1 in 10 new fathers/partners² are concerned about their mental health during the perinatal period. This can happen to anyone. It is not your fault!

We are an NHS Talking Therapies Service for people with a Trafford GP. Our perinatal pathway welcomes individuals who are expecting or who have a young child under age 2, and who are struggling with their mental health.

Our NHS Trust are committed to promoting equality and diversity. We welcome people from all ethnic backgrounds and families with different structures and different needs (same sex couples, different sex couples, single parents, surrogate mothers, trans parents, adoptive parents, parents raising gender neutral children and many more).

Have you or your significant other experienced any of the following?

Irritability and/or anger Difficult or unexpected feelings towards your pregnancy, baby or your partner Anxiety, worry and tension Lack of motivation and interest Suicidal thoughts Ideas to harm yourself, your partner or your child

Unwanted intrusive thoughts or memories or flashbacks Poor sleep even when your baby sleeps well Anxiety about labour or struggling to come to terms with a difficult labour (your own or your partner’s) Feeling worried about the pregnancy or complications Feeling overwhelmed by your or your partner’s pregnancy, or parenthood in general

Common thoughts in the Perinatal period:

I feel really lonely I don’t feel supported I should be happy because I’m pregnant/have a baby/I am or will become a parent I have failed as a parent No one else feels like I do If I say how I’m feeling/what I’m thinking, they might take my baby away I feel like crying/can’t stop crying all the time, I feel sad

It’s my fault if my baby is fussy I just can’t be bothered to do anything/see anyone I feel hopeless, I should be able to cope I feel like I have lost my identity I feel ashamed of my postnatal body I should be a perfect parent I feel anxious about my baby’s safety

Luckily, there are lots of services that are here to support you with these struggles. Asking for help doesn’t mean you can’t cope or can’t care for your child, but getting the right help is key to ensure you can be the parent you want to be. A common fear that parents may have, is that seeking support will lead to their children being taken away from them, however this is incredibly rare! Please do not let these fears prevent you from accessing the support that you and your family deserve.

We know how difficult it can be to engage in treatment, particularly when dealing with the challenges of becoming a parent, therefore we aim to make our service as accessible as possible; we offer flexibility with appointments, provide sessions in family friendly venues and offer you shorter waiting times for assessment and treatment.

What we offer

We are a talking therapies service and offer a range of different interventions, including Guided Self-Help, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Counselling and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). We offer both 1:1 therapy and groups. Asking for help doesn’t mean you can’t cope or can’t care for your child, but getting the right help is key to ensure you can be the parent you want to be!

 

¹ Greater Manchester Perinatal and Parent Infant Mental Health Service: Championing 1001 Critical Days
² Family and parenting: statistics | Mental Health Foundation