Thrive With Your Family: Having a Baby During a Pandemic

A nationally recognized panel of Michigan Medicine specialists tackle stressors, concerns and difficulties families face in the ever-changing environment of the current global pandemic. With candid conversations on parenting, the group addresses child behavior, mental health and relationships. Find all the episodes here.

MORE FROM MICHIGAN: Sign up for our weekly newsletter

From the excitement of finding out you're pregnant to the worry over if you'll be a good enough parent, having a baby can be a rollercoaster of emotions. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a whole new set of stressors into the experience that no one could have imagined having to deal with. Women have had to change their birth plans and live in fear of the unknowns, which is taking a toll on their mental health, behavior and relationships.

In the sixth episode of Thrive With Your Family, host Jenny Radesky, M.D., is joined by guest panelists from Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital including high risk obstetrics physician Elizabeth Langen, M.D., certified nurse midwife, Melisa Scott, CNM, and psychiatrist Maria Muzik, M.D., to tackle the topic of perinatal (the time spanning from pregnancy and childbirth through postnatal care) wellbeing. Questions and topics covered include:

- Coping with anxiety or depression during pregnancy (9:26)

- Are you hearing from expectant mothers about more anxiety around contamination, germs, or obsessive cleaning - or somatic symptoms (pain or fatigue caused by major emotional distress) and worries about how your body is feeling - as another way that moms are internalizing anxiety? (16:50)

- Concerns about childbirth experience (22:03)

- Dealing with the uncertainties of postnatal care (31:06)

- Are there things built into follow up care that can help postpartum moms with anxiety or depression? (38:00)

- With appointments being a mixture of in-person and virtual visits now, is pregnancy care the same as the previous model? (46:49)

Editor's note: Information on the COVID-19 crisis is constantly changing. For the latest numbers and updates, keep checking the CDC's website. For the most up-to-date information from Michigan Medicine, visit the hospital's Coronavirus (COVID-19) webpage. 

Interested in a COVID-19 clinical trial? Health research is critical to ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Our researchers are hard at work to find vaccines and other ways to potentially prevent and treat the disease and need your help. Sign up to be considered for a clinical trial at Michigan Medicine.

Like Podcasts? Add the Michigan Medicine News Break to your Alexa-enabled device or subscribe for daily updates on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher.