Pregnancy and parenting can be hard, even if you have had children before. You may find yourself feeling sad some days (or everyday), crying a lot or experiencing a continuous low mood.
You don’t need to enjoy every moment of being a parent. Particularly in the early days of parenting we often spend time doing things that might feel boring or difficult.
While you might see images of new parents enjoying a coffee while their baby sleeps peacefully in the pram next to them or gazing lovingly at their baby during a feed, the reality is often a lot different.
Nappy explosions, constant crying and broken sleep can make it hard to even leave the house some days. Pregnancy and parenthood are likely to involve quite a different lifestyle to the one you had before children.
It’s useful to be aware that the general circumstances of life as a parent that can leave us more vulnerable to low mood. For example, prolonged lack of sleep, forgetting to eat or drink enough, having less downtime or recovering from birth related injuries.
Real stories
Katie’s story: Overcoming postnatal depression
When you’re experiencing low mood
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Self-compassion
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Validate how you’re feeling
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Identify what sets off your low mood
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Reframe your thoughts
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Acceptance
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Self-care
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Hope for the future
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Support
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Mood boosters
If you are experiencing changes to your mental health, ability to cope or are worried about your thoughts or feelings, it’s important to talk about it with your loved ones and health care providers.
If you need immediate help:
Lifeline
131 114, 7 days, 24 hours
If you need emergency support, call 000.
More support options
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Helplines
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Parentlines
Articles
Stories
PANDA National Helpline
Find someone to talk to, Monday to Saturday.
1300 726 306
Call 000 for police and ambulance if you or someone else are in immediate danger
Talk with friends or family
Consider talking about how you are feeling with someone you trust. This might be a friend or family member. Once you starting talking you might be surprised at how many others have had similar experiences and the support they can provide you.
Talk with your doctor
Talking with your doctor can be an important step to getting the help you need. They should be able to give you non-judgemental support, assessment, diagnosis, and ongoing care and treatment. They can also refer you to specialists such as a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist.
Get help now
If you are having suicidal thoughts or are feeling disorientated it’s important to get help immediately. PANDA is not a crisis service, if you need immediate support call Lifeline 13 11 14 (24/7).
Mental health checklist
How are you going?
Everyone’s experience of pregnancy, birth and parenting is unique and brings different rewards and challenges. Our mental health checklist can help you to see if what you’re experiencing or observing in a loved one could be reason to seek help.
PANDA CHATBOT
Chat to Dot
Meet Dot. They’re here to support you to explore your mental health and wellbeing during pregnancy and as a new parent.
Real stories