Ep 232. Anxious, Overwhelmed, Numb: The Mental Health Reality of IVF
About this episode
This episode explores the mental health challenges faced by women during and after IVF treatment.
The mental and emotional weight of trying to conceive doesn't disappear once you're pregnant, or once the baby arrives. For many women, it quietly shapes everything that comes after. Sometimes the hardest part isn't the fertility treatment itself. It's carrying the aftermath of it into motherhood without anyone acknowledging that you went through something significant to get there. In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with Dr Edna Lekgabe, certified perinatal and reproductive psychiatrist practising in Melbourne, to explore the mental health dimensions of the trying to conceive journey. They cover the difference between normal anxiety and clinical anxiety, how IVF trauma shows up in the body long after treatment ends, and why perinatal mental health challenges are never a personal failing. This is the final episode of the six-part Trying to Conceive series on The Science of Motherhood. In this episode, you'll hear about: Why what you're feeling is a nervous system response, not a character flaw How to recognise when anxiety has moved from visitor to renovation What IVF trauma looks like in the body and why it often goes unidentified How…
More episodes of The Science of Motherhood
- Ep 236. What Your Child's Brain Is Doing Mid-Meltdown
- Ep 235. Does Fibre Affect Your Fertility? New Research Explained
- Ep 234. Why Doesn't My Midwife Ask About My Mental Health?
- Ep 233. Navigating Grandparents Without Losing Your Mind
- Ep 231. Trying to Conceive: What to Expect Emotionally and Physically
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