Pregnancy and postpartum bring with them a host of challenges and transitions. It’s incredibly common to struggle with your mental health during this time—in fact, around 1 in 4 women experience a mental health condition during the perinatal period.
Despite this, many mums and mums-to-be feel anxious about reaching out for support. There are some common fears that might prevent you from taking the first step to get support—in this post, I’ll share my honest and supportive reflections on some of the most common ones.
If you’re feeling unsure about what therapy might be like, I hope this helps you feel a little more informed and reassured as you consider what support could look like for you.
1. Will My Baby Be Taken Away From Me?
This is one of the most common and understandable fears that many mums and mums-to-be have when thinking about reaching out for mental health support. The idea that seeking help could somehow lead to social services becoming involved and your baby being taken away can feel terrifying.
Let me reassure you: this is incredibly unlikely.
From my perspective as a therapist, I would only ever need to share information with other services if I had serious concerns about significant harm, abuse, or neglect. Simply experiencing mental health difficulties—whether that’s feeling low, anxious, overwhelmed, or finding parenting hard—is not a reason for me to be concerned about your child’s safety.
In fact, reaching out for support shows strength, not risk. It tells me that you’re being proactive and responsible about your own wellbeing—and your family’s.
Even in situations where social services do become involved, their first priority is always to offer support to help families stay together safely. Removing a child from their parent is incredibly rare and is considered only as a very last resort.
2. Will I Need to Take Medication During Pregnancy or While Breastfeeding?
Many women are understandably cautious about taking medication in the perinatal period.
As a therapist, I don’t prescribe medication. Medication would only come into the picture if you chose to speak to your GP, a psychiatrist, or another prescribing professional (like a specialist mental health nurse).
Unless I had serious concerns about your immediate safety that we couldn’t manage together, there’s no requirement for your GP or any other healthcare provider to be informed that you’re attending therapy. Reaching out for support doesn’t mean you’ll be pressured to take medication or involve other services.
3. Does Reaching Out For Help Mean That I’m Not a Good Enough Mum?
Absolutely not.
Struggling with your mental health during pregnancy or after birth says nothing about your ability as a mother. It simply means you’re going through a difficult time. And you’re not alone.
Around 1 in 4 women experience a mental health condition during the perinatal period.
It’s a time of huge transition, where so much is changing: your hormones, your sleep, your identity, your routines, your relationships, and the time you have for yourself and the things that once helped you cope.
Reaching out for support doesn’t make you a bad mum. In fact the opposite is true—it shows courage, self-awareness, and care for yourself and your baby.
There’s often a narrative that mums should feel nothing but joy and gratitude throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. But this expectation just isn’t realistic—and it can create a lot of guilt if you’re not enjoying every moment.
Struggling during such a significant life change is not a reflection of how much you love your baby or how good a mother you are. It simply means you’re going through an intense period of adjustment and may need some extra support to help you navigate the challenges and changes that come with this new chapter.
4. Will Opening Up Make Everything Fall Apart?
Many mums feel like they’re just about holding everything together. You may be putting on a brave face while continuing to care for their baby, even when you’re struggling inside.
It’s completely understandable to worry that if you start talking about what’s really going on, everything might come flooding out and become too much to cope with. You might fear that opening up could make things worse, or that once you start, you won’t be able to stop.
This fear is especially common if you’re carrying past experiences or trauma that still feel painful and unprocessed. The idea of revisiting these can feel overwhelming or destabilising.
One of the key parts of how I work is pacing our work together. We don’t have to dive straight into those painful experiences. Instead, we can work collaboratively to find a pace that feels manageable for you. We’ll regularly check in on how therapy is impacting you day to day, and adjust the focus depending on what you need—whether that’s exploring and healing from the past, or staying grounded in the present and finding ways to cope right now.
We can also explore grounding techniques—tools that help you manage feeling overwhelmed and bring you back to the present moment. These are practical strategies that you can use both in and outside of sessions to help you stay connected to yourself when things feel overwhelming.
5. What If I’m Having Suicidal Thoughts?
Suicidal thoughts can be frightening, but they’re more common than many people realise. Suicidal thoughts can vary widely: from feeling like you can’t go on, to wishing you could escape the pain, to having more active thoughts or plans about ending your life.
If you’re experiencing thoughts like these, therapy can be a supportive and non-judgemental space to talk about them. Together, we can explore what’s behind the thoughts and feelings, look at what might help reduce your distress, and gently work towards making things feel more manageable.
In my practice, I would only need to break confidentiality if I believed you were at immediate risk of serious harm and we weren’t able to make a safety plan together. Suicidal thoughts without intent or a clear plan can absolutely be explored safely within our sessions and without needing to leave the room.
These thoughts, while distressing, don’t mean you’re failing, broken, or a danger to your baby. They are often a sign that you’re overwhelmed, exhausted, or feeling hopeless—and that you would benefit from support.
If you ever feel unable to keep yourself safe or are in immediate danger, please reach out for urgent help. You can contact your GP, go to your nearest A&E, or call 999. Support is available 24/7—and using these services is absolutely the right thing to do.
Final Thoughts
It’s completely normal to have fears or doubts about reaching out for therapy during the perinatal period. I hope this article has helped you gain a clearer understanding of what therapy can look like during this time—and eased some of the concerns that may have been holding you back.
Taking the step to reach out for support shows strength and care—for yourself and your baby.
If you still have concerns or questions, you’re very welcome to get in touch. You can contact me here or book a free, no-obligation 20-minute initial call here—I’d be happy to talk through anything that’s on your mind.
Megan Baldry
I am a counsellor and psychotherapist who supports women with their mental health and wellbeing during the perinatal period.
I’m a BACP registered therapist with a masters degree in counselling and psychotherapy and specialist training in perinatal mental health.
I offer sessions online and via phone in the UK. I offer regular and ad-hoc therapy sessions which are a space for you to be supported and work on goals that feel meaningful to you.
I also produce blogs and videos around therapy and the common challenges and transitions that come up in the perinatal period.
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