Counselling for women in recovery from pregnancy sickness
I offer specialist counselling support to women who have previously lived with pregnancy sickness or Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), aiming to promote recuperation and restore wellbeing.
The psychological impacts of HG are complex and can persist once physical symptoms have dissipated. Following the illness experience, women are sometimes left with a reduced sense of self, identity, or confidence; unease around other women’s pregnancies; sadness about having been too unwell to actively parent older children or bond with their baby in utero; disrupted relationships; unresolved anger towards health care professionals or relatives who provided insufficient support; difficulties in relation to food or body image; disappointment, deprived of their anticipated pregnancy; or fear of further pregnancy. Some women are diagnosed with Postnatal Anxiety, Postnatal Depression, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following HG pregnancy. Women who have terminated a wanted pregnancy due to intolerable HG suffering (commonly accompanied by inadequate medical care) are often left with complex feelings of loss.
Counselling sessions can be helpful for women who would like to process or come to terms with any aspect of their pregnancy sickness experience; women who are concerned about further pregnancy or limiting their family size due to HG; women who are psychologically preparing for pregnancy with possible recurrent HG; women who are grieving following pregnancy termination(s) due to HG; women who are struggling to adjust to mothering post HG; and women seeking support around postnatal depression, postnatal anxiety, or post-traumatic stress. Every session is tailored to suit each client’s unique needs and preferences. Counselling offers a supportive space, at any stage of recovery, enabling women to move forward with an increased sense of self-awareness, self-compassion, and wellbeing.