Feeling Lonely During Pregnancy

Pregnancy is an exciting time in a woman's life where you get to experience, first hand, the miracle of life. While there are plenty of exciting moments to share with your loved ones, sometimes you can't help but feel terrified, anxious, or lost — and that feeling is perfectly normal.

This dramatic lifestyle change, low energy levels, and rollercoaster of emotions can make it challenging to be yourself and connect with your loved ones, who may not fully understand what you're going through.

Feeling lonely during pregnancy isn't a topic that's commonly discussed, yet many pregnant women experience this. We'll breakdown the walls here and discuss some of the ways you can take care of your mental health to combat the feeling of isolation during pregnancy.

What Causes Loneliness During Pregnancy

Changes in hormones can cause a significant decrease in energy, affect your sleep quality, and send you through a rollercoaster of emotions. This cocktail of pregnancy hormones makes you more sensitive to stress and anxiety. Not to mention, you're swollen, sore, and exhausted all the time. It can be challenging to feel like your usual self when you're so uncomfortable.

A drastic lifestyle change can also make it challenging to be your normal self. Maternity leave, moving to a new city, and not being able to keep up with your friends' social gatherings can feel very isolating.

First-time moms are especially susceptible to feeling lonely during their pregnancy from a flaw in expectations. There's a lot more information now about mom's mental health after delivering their baby (baby blues and postpartum depression) but very little discussion about mom's mental health before the baby arrives.

Friends and family may keep their distance from you with good intentions, thinking you need the quiet and bed-rest, without realizing the impact this distance can have on your mental health. It's important to normalize these feelings and reach out to your support system.

If you don't deal with these feelings earlier on, they may intensify down the road.

Prenatal Depression

Sometimes this feeling of loneliness isn't from a lack of interacting with your social network, but rather, a symptom of a condition called prenatal depression — a strong precursor to postpartum depression.

It's not easy to detect the signs of prenatal depression because it resembles many typical symptoms of pregnancy. However, it's still important to recognize signs as prenatal depression can become a severe condition that may affect the development of your baby.

Here are common symptoms of prenatal depression:

• Withdrawing from friends and family
• Feeling of overwhelm and helplessness
• Frequent crying
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Poor fetal attachment

If you believe your feelings of loneliness during your pregnancy are related to or in combination with any of the above-listed symptoms, we highly urge you to reach out to your doctor to get the support your need.

Ways To Fight Loneliness While Pregnant

Have Your Loved Ones Visit

When you're in the last term of your pregnancy or are experiencing a complicated pregnancy, your outings are pretty much restricted to the doctor's office.

The most natural solution is to have your loved ones visit you in the comfort of your own home.

People can't read minds. Most of the time, people will think the best thing for you right now is time to yourself to prepare for the baby. Don't wait for others to reach out to you. Let them know you'd like to spend time with them and have them over if you need it.

Plan Dates With Your Partner

Understandably, preparing for the arrival of your baby isn't cheap. Many pregnant women feel the loneliness set in when they're on maternity leave, away from their regular routines, awhile their partner is working full-time.

A date doesn't need to be extravagant; you can make it as simple or as exciting as you can handle. The important thing is spending time together as a couple to appreciate each other's company and share some intimacy.

Are you having a baby on your own? Mingle with other single parents, which brings us to our next tip...

Meet With Local Moms Or Other Pregnant Women

One of the many benefits of living in the age of the Internet is the ability to find and connect with other like-minded people, and extend your community past your the circles you've grown up with or worked in.

There's a group for virtually all interests on Facebook Groups or Meetup. Sometimes the most therapeutic remedy to loneliness is to talk it out and support other women who are currently experiencing what you may be going through.

Find An Online Community

Sometimes meeting with a group face-to-face is challenging, especially if you don't drive, have a more introverted personality, or are bed-ridden — all of these factors can intensify the feelings of loneliness during your pregnancy.

Thanks to the digital age we live in, many cherished friendships can start on the web. The beautiful thing is that you can choose your level of participation in online groups, talk to someone one-on-one with private messages or ask for the group's opinion of a particular topic — all in the comfort of your home.

Immerse Yourself In Learning Something New

The days can seem long when you're at home on your own waiting for your baby to come to join you. It may be the perfect time to quench your thirst on a particular curiosity — like learning a new language, taking maternity fitness classes, or jump into those pottery class you've always wanted to do.

Taking on a new hobby relieves stress, which can help reduce physical pain and improve your mental health. Taking classes in a subject can also give you a new opportunity to meet other people with similar interests.

What Can You Do To Take Care Of Yourself After Pregnancy?

Our passion at Bellefit is to provide moms the support and comfort they deserve with high-quality postpartum recovery garments.

We have the most extensive range of postpartum girdles and corsets with eight styles from sizes XS – 3XL. Each garment is made from hypoallergenic, breathable, and flexible materials with high-grade medical compression to support your postpartum recovery.

These garments were created with moms in-mind and feature intelligent design features that will do most of the legwork for you so you can focus on caring for yourself and your new baby.

Here's a list of some of the benefits of wearing an abdominal binder after pregnancy:

• Increases blood flow and circulation to speed healing
• Supports your core muscles to alleviate back pain and strengthen stabilizer muscles
• Beam with confidence. Abdominal binders provide a sleek and flattering silhouette by flattening the tummy and smoothing muffin tops
• Get to exercising again sooner with your abdominals protected and supported
• Realign your hips and back with a binder to improve your posture effortlessly.

The weeks following childbirth is such a special period to connect with you baby. Let us lend a hand in supporting your postpartum healing so that you can focus on your mental health and physical recovery.

To Wrap Up: How To Beat Loneliness During Pregnancy

It's perfectly normal to have mixed feelings during your pregnancy. Your body is going through extreme changes, and you've entered an entirely new chapter in your life that some of your close friends, family, and even your partner may not relate to.

There are many reasons for feeling isolated and lonely during your pregnancy. It can come about as a response to the hormonal changes in your body or a lifestyle change — maternity leave, moving to a new city, or not able to keep up with your social activities pre-pregnancy.

Feeling of loneliness is also a symptom of prenatal depression, which should be addressed with your family doctor.

The best way to address feelings of loneliness during pregnancy is to tackle it head-on. Communicate with your loved ones, join mom groups online and in-person, pick up a new hobby, and plan dates with your partner.

No matter what you're going through, remember that all pregnancies eventually come to an end, and you deserve to feel supported and loved.