Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
A Self-Help Guide for Pregnancy, Birth and the First Postnatal Year

Provides the understanding and tools needed to help free yourself from perinatal anxiety, with clear examples and evidence-based techniques.

Fiona Challacombe (Author), Catherine Green (Author), Victoria Bream (Author)

9781108823135, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 October 2022

358 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.53 kg

'This is a wonderful and much needed book by leaders in the field of perinatal mental health. Until recently perinatal anxiety has been a neglected area. This is despite the fact that one in five will suffer from one or more anxiety or anxiety-related condition during the perinatal period. Although our understanding of perinatal anxiety has increased, few evidence-based self-help books have been published. This book provides state-of-the art, evidence-based recommendations for overcoming anxiety during the perinatal period. It is sophisticated but easy to read and follow. I am very impressed by this book and will definitely recommend it to my clients.' Nichole Fairbrother, PhD, RPsych, CACBT-ACTCC Certified Cognitive Behaviour Therapist and Founding Member, Clinical Associate Professor and MSFHR Health Professional-Investigator, University of British Columbia, Victoria

Severe anxiety affects a huge number of women in pregnancy and the postnatal period, making a challenging time even more difficult. You may be suffering from uncontrollable worries about pregnancy and birth, distressing intrusive thoughts of accidental or deliberate harm to the baby, or fears connected to traumatic experiences. This practical self-help guide provides an active route out of feeling anxious. Step-by-step, the book teaches you to apply cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) techniques in the particular context of pregnancy and becoming a new parent in order to overcome maternal anxiety in all its forms. Working through the book you will gain understanding of your anxiety and how factors from the past and present may be playing a role in how you feel. Together with practical exercises and worksheets to move through at your own pace, you will gain the tools you need to help you move forward and enjoy parenthood.

1. Introduction
2. Persistent and distressing worry
3. Unwanted intrusive thoughts of harm
4. Specific phobias affecting pregnancy and the postnatal period
5. Panic attacks and health worries
6. Feeling anxious around other people
7. Coping with traumatic experiences while pregnant and after birth
8. Anxiety about pregnancy and birth
9. Anxiety and adjusting to motherhood
10. Beyond the perinatal period: taking your new skills forward into parenthood.

Subject Areas: Pregnancy, birth & baby care [VFXB], Women's health [VFDW], Clinical psychology [MMJ], Psychiatry [MMH], Materno-fetal medicine [MJTF], Gynaecology & obstetrics [MJT], Medicine: general issues [MB], Child & developmental psychology [JMC]