When a woman opens her life to receive a child she enters a new time in her life during which and her emotions and her own body are suddenly out of her control. New eating habits can put on pregnancy pounds and then some. Once the baby is born, many new mothers are disturbed by the look of their post-pregnancy body.

Whether a woman is alone or sharing her experience with a spouse or partner, and whether she already has children or not, a new mother is creating a new family constellation that has never been before. With this opening a new landscape forms. First time mothers are in uncharted territory. As a social, relational, physical and psycho-spiritual experience, the transition to motherhood has the power to provoke the depths of her identity and her soul.

In opening herself to the whole experience of motherhood, there are many new feelings associated with the obvious excitement, sharing her news, organizing a nursery and generally getting ready for the main event. It can be a bewildering time for a new mother who is confronted with ambivalent feelings, fear, grief, even a sense of loss or mourning. It can be an anxious time and psychotherapy can help.

There are many issues a new mother may want to discuss in therapy, such as her changing body, mood changes, fears and expectations. Another issue therapy can help with is the changes taking place in her familiar life. Friends and family members unexpectedly draw near or, more painfully, pull away from this oncoming event in her life. Rhythms she was accustomed to in her intimate life with a spouse or partner shift in wonderful and sometimes frightening ways. Things are not the same.

The transition to motherhood is a valuable time to seek support from therapy. Motherhood brings new events, such as lack of sleep, the experience of breast-feeding, leaving the child with a baby-sitter for the first time, resuming an intimate life, coping with the competing needs of other children, potential postpartum depressions and changing hormones, partner and marital tensions, considering whether or not to go back to work, and finding childcare.

Motherhood, Serotonin and Stress

As scientists explore the role of serotonin in mood, more and more people are being identified as having low serotonin levels. Serotonin and its group of neurotransmitters called catecholamines are chiefly made by the adrenal glands. They all work together as a team to keep our moods stable and balanced. As the general level of stress in our life goes up, our adrenal glands make more catecholamines, which means our brains have less serotonin to maintain balance. As stressful events occur, such as pregnancy and childbirth, the brain can have difficulty making enough serotonin to correspond with the new levels of catecholamines. In addition to serotonin deficiency, catecholamine and adrenal function have been linked to depression. As wonderful as pregnancy and new motherhood can be, it places a great deal of stress on the mind and body.

Motherhood can be a magical time. Like other life transitions, it can also be fraught with challenges. A 2006 Danish study discovered that new mothers are at an increased risk for mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder in the first 3 months following the birth of their first child. Because of this, new mothers may want to seek psychotherapy in the months following childbirth to help with the transition into motherhood. In addition to psychotherapy, nutrition and other complementary and alternative therapies can be helpful in relieving depressive symptoms and improving overall well-being.