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Pregnancy Is Supposed to Feel Like a Gift. For Many Women, It Feels Like a Lot More Than That.
The announcement was joyful. The comments from friends were warm and celebratory. Everyone seems to assume you're glowing.
But inside, there's a different experience — one you might not feel safe naming out loud. Worry that doesn't stop. Fear that something will go wrong. An anxiety that follows you from appointment to appointment, from week to week. Or maybe something harder to name: a strangeness. A sense that your body belongs to someone else. That the self you knew before the positive test is quietly disappearing, and nobody is talking about that.
You might feel guilty for not feeling happier. You might be doing everything right and still feel afraid. You might love this baby deeply and still be grieving something you can't quite articulate.
All of this is real. None of it makes you a bad mother.
What Prenatal Anxiety Actually Feels Like
Prenatal anxiety — anxiety during pregnancy — is remarkably common and significantly underdiagnosed. It affects roughly 15–20% of pregnant women, and many never receive support for it because the focus of prenatal care is predominantly physical.
It can look like:
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Constant worry about the baby's health, development, or movement
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Fear that something will go wrong with the pregnancy, labor, or birth
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Intrusive thoughts about worst-case scenarios that you cannot quiet
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Difficulty sleeping, even when exhausted
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Hypervigilance at every prenatal appointment — dreading what might be found
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Physical symptoms: racing heart, shallow breathing, tight chest, nausea
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Difficulty being present or enjoying the pregnancy because the fear takes up so much space
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Anxiety about becoming a mother — your identity, your relationship, your readiness
For women who have experienced a previous pregnancy loss, a prior difficult birth, a history of anxiety, or any kind of trauma, prenatal anxiety can be especially pronounced. The body and mind remember, even when you're doing your best to stay optimistic.
The Identity Questions Nobody Prepares You For
Pregnancy is not only a physical experience. It is an identity experience. Your sense of who you are — your autonomy, your relationship, your body, your sense of the future — is being reorganized in real time, often before the baby has even arrived.
This is sometimes called the beginning of matrescence: the profound psychological transformation of becoming a mother. It starts in pregnancy, not at birth. And it surfaces questions that are real and valid:
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Who am I becoming?
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What am I losing?
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What if I'm not the mother I want to be?
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What happens to my relationship?
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What happens to me?
These questions don't mean you don't want this baby. They mean you are a thoughtful person navigating one of the most significant transitions of your life — and you deserve a space to think through all of it.
You might also find yourself worrying about postpartum anxiety or wondering what the postpartum period will be like. Those are legitimate things to explore during pregnancy, not things to push away.
This Isn't Just Clinical for Me
I want to share something with you that I don't include in every bio.
I've navigated pregnancy complications, a 5 week antepartum hospital stay, and two NICU stays with my second child. I know what it is to sit in an appointment and hear something you weren't prepared to hear. I know what it is to love a baby you haven't yet met while also being terrified — and to hold that fear largely alone, because the people around you don't know what to say and you don't want to worry them.
That experience didn't just deepen my empathy for perinatal mental health. It changed the way I understand it. I know the difference between clinical descriptions of prenatal anxiety and what it actually feels like to live inside it.
When you come to work with me, you're working with a psychologist who has sat where you are. That shapes the kind of therapy I offer.
What Therapy During Pregnancy Looks Like
Working with me during pregnancy is not about eliminating uncertainty. You cannot eliminate uncertainty. It's about building your internal capacity to hold it — to be afraid without being consumed by it, to worry without losing yourself to the worry.
In our sessions, we'll work on:
Understanding where the anxiety is coming from. Prenatal anxiety is rarely random. It often connects to your history — past losses, prior trauma, family dynamics, relational patterns — and to legitimate concerns about the future. We look at both.
Exploring the identity questions pregnancy brings up. The "who am I becoming" questions deserve real attention. Many women spend their entire pregnancy trying to avoid them. Therapy is a place to sit with them instead.
Preparing emotionally for the postpartum period. Research shows that unaddressed prenatal anxiety is a significant risk factor for postpartum depression and anxiety. Working with a therapist during pregnancy is one of the most effective ways to prepare for what comes after.
Processing any past experiences that are surfacing. Pregnancy has a way of bringing old grief, old fear, and old relational wounds to the surface. If something from your past is showing up more forcefully now, that's not a coincidence. That's the work.
If you've been diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy or have experienced a previous loss, I want you to know that those circumstances are something we can address directly. This is not a one-size-fits-all kind of therapy.
You Deserve Support During This Time
Pregnancy is not a reason to push your mental health to the back burner. In fact, it's one of the most important windows of time to prioritize it — for yourself, and for the relationship you'll build with your child.
I offer a free 15-minute consultation call for all new clients. It's a low-pressure way to get a sense of whether working together would be a good fit.
Prenatal anxiety rarely stands alone. It often connects to:
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Postpartum anxiety — for women who are worried about what the postpartum period will bring, or who are already in it
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Postpartum rage and identity after birth — for women navigating the anger and identity loss that often follows the early months of motherhood
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Matrescence and identity after motherhood — the deeper work of understanding who you are becoming through this transformation
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Motherhood & perinatal mental health — the full scope of support I offer throughout the perinatal period
Frequently Asked Questions About Prenatal Anxiety
1 / Is it safe to start therapy during pregnancy?
Yes — therapy is not only safe during pregnancy, it is often especially beneficial. Research supports therapy (particularly psychodynamic and CBT approaches) as an effective and preferred intervention for prenatal anxiety. Many clients find that having a consistent therapeutic relationship established during pregnancy makes the postpartum transition significantly smoother.
2 / What if my anxiety is specifically about the birth?
Fear of childbirth — sometimes called tokophobia in its more severe form — is a valid and treatable concern. We can address it directly. Part of the work involves understanding where the fear is rooted and building a realistic, compassionate relationship with your body's experience of birth.
3 / Do I need a diagnosis to start therapy with you?
No. If you're anxious, overwhelmed, or struggling during your pregnancy — even if you can't name exactly what you're feeling — that is enough of a reason to reach out. You don't need to arrive at therapy with a label.
4 / Do you work virtually?
Yes. I provide virtual therapy across Texas and 40+ states through a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform. Sessions can be scheduled around nap times, and you're welcome to be in pajamas. I understand that getting to an office with a new baby is a barrier — virtual sessions are designed to remove it.
5 / What is the first step?
A free 15-minute consultation call — no commitment, no pressure. It's a chance to share a little of what's going on and get a sense of whether my approach feels like a fit for you.
512-766-9871
Dr. Emily Turinas, PhD — Licensed Psychologist (TX License #39668)
In-person: 2525 Wallingwood Drive 7D, Austin, Texas 78746 Serving South Austin (Zilker, Barton Hills, Travis Heights, South Lamar), Central Austin (Downtown, Tarrytown, Hyde Park), West Austin (Westlake Hills, Rollingwood), and surrounding areas.
Virtual therapy: Available across Texas and 40+ states — Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
$225 per 50-minute session | Free 15-minute initial consultation | Superbills provided for PPO reimbursement