Anxiety in Childbearing Women

Book excerpt: Nearly all new mothers experience some apprehension about the transition to parenthood, but some women's symptoms reach the point of meeting diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder. Indeed, new research suggests that in the perinatal period-which includes both pregnancy and the first year postpartum-some types of anxiety are more common than depression. The time is ripe to integrate and evaluate the research on anxiety disorders that occur at this stage of life. This book describes the various ways in which perinatal anxiety is expressed in women, as well as approaches for assessment and treatment. The first half of the book describes the five main types of perinatal anxiety-worry and generalized anxiety, obsessions and compulsions, panic attacks, social anxiety, and childbirth-related fear and trauma-and presents a biopsychosocial model. Chapters in this half discuss the nature, prevalence, and effects of each anxiety disorder, comorbidity between perinatal anxiety and perinatal depression, and risk factors for perinatal anxiety. The second half of the book covers the assessment and treatment of perinatal anxiety, including pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, psychoeducation, and self-help resources. All of the chapters draw extensively from the research literature, and engaging case studies bring the material to life throughout the book. This volume will be a tremendous resource for clinical psychologists, counselors, obstetricians, nurses, social workers, psychiatrists, and others who work with pregnant and postpartum women, as well as researchers and graduate students in any of these fields.