Pregnancy Emotional Wellbeing

What is emotional wellbeing?

Pregnancy emotional wellbeing refers to the emotional and psychological health of expectant mothers during their pregnancy journey.

It encompasses managing stress, anxiety, and mood fluctuations that can arise during this transformative time.

Pregnancy mental wellbeing involves seeking support from healthcare providers, practicing self-care techniques like mindfulness and relaxation exercises, and fostering a positive mindset.

Addressing these aspects promotes a balanced mental state, enhances maternal health and contributes to the well-being of both mother and baby.

How can it help?

Emotional Support

A safe space to express and navigate emotions, addressing concerns and anxieties associated with pregnancy.

Coping Strategies

Effective coping mechanisms and tools to manage stress, anxiety or depression during the prenatal period.

Relationship Support

Assistance in maintaining healthy relationships, fostering positive communication and understanding with partners, family or friends.

Self-Care Guidance

Advice on self-care practices to promote mental well-being, including relaxation techniques and stress-reduction strategies.

Preventive Mental Health

Focus on preventive measures and early intervention, promoting a positive mental health experience throughout the maternity journey.

Meet our emotional wellbeing specialists

Ginny Winter

BA Hons (Oxon), MSc, PG Dip. Psych, FPC, UKCP

Specialist Perinatal Parent-Infant Psychotherapist

Consultation Pricing:
50 minutes: £135

I’m an experienced perinatal parent-infant psychotherapist, working both privately and within an NHS community perinatal mental health service.

My psychotherapy qualifications come from: WPF Therapy, the British Psychotherapy Foundation, The Tavistock and Portman and the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. Before psychotherapy, I had a career in intercultural relations. I have a first- class degree from the University of Oxford in modern languages.

I currently work with parents at any point in their perinatal journey: before conception, during pregnancy and in the first two-years postnatally.

Having a baby can bring up lots of different, sometimes contradictory, feelings. Therapy is a confidential space in which to explore these feelings, as well as your underlying thoughts and behavioural patterns.

Perinatal psychotherapy can help with:

Confusing or overwhelming feelings about your baby and parenthood
Concerns about how your past, and possibly your own childhood, is shaping your thoughts and feelings, and hopes and fears, about your baby
Worries about how having a baby may change your identity and/or your relationships
Difficulties in understanding your baby and their non-verbal communications
Concerns about your relationship and connection with your baby

Sessions can be online or in-person. If we meet in-person and you’re postnatal, we can actively include the baby in the therapy and work directly with your shared interactions in-the-moment, and on your relationship. My clinic is located in west London.

If you’d like to arrange an initial consultation, please feel free to contact me. Together we’d explore what has led you to seek therapy now, some background information and your expectations of therapy.

There is no commitment to ongoing work at this point. The main purpose of the initial meeting is to help both of us decide if psychotherapy is the right approach for you at this moment in time. If we decide to continue together, we would agree to meet for regular weekly or fortnightly sessions

Laura Bridle

RM, BSc, MSC, PG Cert

Midwife and Maternal Mental Health Specialist

Specialties:
Perinatal mental health; birth trauma; birth planning; pregnancy after loss; health inequalities and birth debriefs; tokophobia; antenatal education sessions

Consultation Pricing:
20 minutes: £50
40 minutes: £70
60 minutes: £90

I am a mum to a busy boy and a midwife with over 20 years’ experience working in obstetric care in Canada, UK, Nepal and South Sudan. I love being a midwife and being part of this important life event. I am very passionate about listening to women, birthing people and their families and giving them to information and tools to be as ready as they can be for their new baby.

I originally trained as a nurse in Canada working in public health and obstetrics prior to moving home to England to train and work as a midwife. I trained at University of Surrey and qualified with a 1st class honours and received the award for clinical excellence.

I worked as a caseload midwife, which enabled me to support families from the start of pregnancy up until 28 days post birth. This included supporting birth at home, on midwifery led units and consultant led units. I worked with Medecins Sans Frontières (doctors without borders) as a midwife manager in East Africa and volunteered in Nepal at the stand-alone birth centre in Kathmandu. I loved this part of my career and the skills I gained there have moulded me into the midwife I am today.

Prior to my current role, I worked as the lead midwife for mental health and chaired the UK mental health midwives forum for 5 years. I completed a PG Cert in Perinatal Mental Health at LSBU, which helped add to my skill set of supporting mental illness. I continue to teach student midwives at universities in London.

I completed a population health fellowship and led on a project co-producing a culturally sensitive recipe book for women with gestational diabetes. I previously taught water aerobics classes for pregnant women for 4 years in a London hospital.

I am now a senior midwife working in maternal mental health services in London. This specialist service supports women and birthing people who have trauma related to their maternity journey. I support women with birth planning, run a pregnancy loss listening clinic and co-run pregnancy after loss peer support including personalised antenatal education sessions. I also work as the Perinatal Improvement Workstream Lead for Health Inequalities.

My areas of focus includes those who have experienced pregnancy loss, birth trauma or tokophobia (fear of birth). I can also support those with mental illness or poor mental wellbeing.

I can support you to consider birth preferences and create a tailored birth plan. Birth can be unpredictable, and because of this, I like to create “ABCD” plan with you, we can think about what would make each mode of birth a positive and calm one for you and your family. I can offer birth debriefs, support your emotionally wellbeing in pregnancy and post birth and can help discuss any queries you may have about pregnancy and that first year at home with baby. I can tailor antenatal education sessions.

I am very passionate about my role as a midwife, which is why I have been in this profession for such a long time. I pride myself in offering evidence-based information and I am active in research myself. I have completed my MSC in advanced midwifery practice and I have been successful in receiving awards for my work in birth support, health inequalities and co-production of resources with our community.

I look forward to working with you.