How To Navigate Pregnancy After Infertility & Pregnancy Loss
Posted by Dr. Alda Ngo
OLIVE GUEST BLOG
I have the honour of guest blogging for Olive Fertility Centre this month.
Here’s this week’s blog:
Pregnancy Is Not A Cure For Infertility or Miscarriage Stress
I had expected to feel nothing but joy and exhilaration when I finally got that positive pregnancy test after a difficult 7+ year fertility journey.
But what I found was that the effects from the grief, loss and shock of infertility and pregnancy loss were not simply cured by the positive pregnancy test. After all the worst-case scenarios that I had experienced, I was wired to expect and wait for the other shoe to drop.
PTSD In Pregnancy
In fact, some researchers argue that infertility and pregnancy loss can be a form of complex trauma that replays even once pregnancy has been achieved. (1,2) For some women, the anxiety and worry they experienced during their fertility journey persists throughout the pregnancy. In addition, once they “graduate” from their fertility clinic they may feel cut adrift from sources of support they had relied on.
If you are continuing to experience anxiety during your pregnancy, it is important to seek out support like counselling or a support group.
Mindfulness Reduces Stress and Increases Resilience
Another resource is a Mindfulness-Based program. Mindfulness has been shown to help decrease stress and anxiety, while increasing resilience and well being. Research shows that when practised throughout pregnancy, not only can Mindfulness help to promote mental health, it can also make childbirth easier, improve partner relationships and enhance parenting sensitivity as well as child well-being. (3)
When I finally became pregnant with my son, a home pregnancy test revealed that I was pregnant during a 10-day silent meditation retreat. I was trapped there, with all of the thoughts and feelings, excited, elated and terrified. Yet I was forced to sit and be with it all, without uttering a word about it to anyone. I anchored myself in the steadiness of my breath, as I practiced watching the storm of thoughts and emotions bubble through my mind, trying not to judge them, or let them take over me.
Mindfulness allowed me to make peace with the unknown of the future, by helping me to accept and find ease in the present moment.
My mindfulness practice gave me the inner space and calm to recognize and take good care of what I did have control over, while cultivating openness and deep acceptance of whatever outcome I did not have control over. It allowed me to make peace with the unknown of the future, by helping me to accept and find ease in the present moment.
Mindfulness for Pregnancy After Infertility & Pregnancy Loss Program
To learn more Mindfulness tools, join us for a Mindfulness program dedicated to those who are currently Pregnant after Infertility and/or Pregnancy loss.
This program follows the famous 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and associates at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. It is the most well-established mindfulness program to date and has become a standard in scientific research.
It will give you the tools you need to support you through your pregnancy, so that you may feel more at ease and enjoy this very special time.
Program details:
Online Mindfulness For Pregnancy After Infertility & Pregnancy Loss
Apr 26 – Jun 21, 2021
By donation at the end of the program
For more program information and to register, go to www.mindfulnessforfertility.com
References:
- Farren J, Jalmbrant M, Falconieri N, et al. Posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression following miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2020;222:367.e1-22
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2019.10.102 - Kami L. Schwerdtfeger & Karina M. Shreffler (2009) Trauma of Pregnancy Loss and Infertility Among Mothers and Involuntarily Childless Women in the United States, Journal of Loss and Trauma, 14:3, 211-227
DOI: 10.1080/15325020802537468 - Duncan LG, Shaddix C. Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP): Innovation in Birth Preparation to Support Healthy, Happy Families. International Journal of Birth and Parent Education. 2015 Jan;2(2):30-33.
PMID: 29051821
