Becoming a Calm Mom: How to Manage Stress and Enjoy the First Year of Motherhood

Having a new baby is a life-changing event that brings both delight and doubt in its wake. All new moms have thoughts such as

• Why can't I soothe my baby?
• Are other new moms handling motherhood better than I am?
• Is it selfish to want time for myself now that I have a baby who needs me?
• Will my partner and I ever stop squabbling now that baby makes three?

These kinds of thoughts can lead even the most confident women to feel stressed out and anxious.

Becoming a Calm Mom balances scientifically sound techniques from an experienced cognitive–behavioral therapist with friendly advice from fellow new moms to help moms successfully overcome the self-doubt that so often arrives along with their first bundle of joy.

Author Deborah Roth Ledley is a mother of two and a clinical psychologist who specializes in anxiety disorders and works with new mothers. In this book she introduces six simple strategies to handle the inevitable stress we all experience during the first year of motherhood.

The Calm Mom Toolbox includes strategies for healthy thinking, behavior, communication, and decision-making, as well as relaxation skills and approaches to nurturing existing and new relationships. Rather than simply giving advice, Becoming a Calm Mom teaches skills to help new moms function better, and gain more enjoyment from this exciting stage of life.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Why New Moms Are Not Calm Moms
2. Three Simple Strategies for Your Calm Mom Toolbox
3. Three More Simple Strategies for Your Calm Mom Toolbox
4. Calm Mom, Calm Baby
5. Remaining Calm When "Me" Becomes "Mom"
6. To Work or Not to Work, That Is the Question
7. Remembering Relationships: There's More to Life than Just Your Baby
8. Happy First Birthday!

Appendix: Postpartum Depression and Anxiety

Resources for New Moms

Notes

Index

About the Author

Deborah Roth Ledley, PhD, is associate director of the Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and also maintains a private practice in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Dr. Ledley has published over 40 articles and book chapters on the nature and treatment of anxiety disorders. She has also published three books: Wiley Concise Guides to Mental Health: Anxiety Disorders (2007); Improving Outcomes and Preventing Relapse in Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy (2005); and the bestselling Making Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy Work: Clinical Process for New Practitioners (2005). Dr. Ledley is the founder of a Web site for new moms called TheCalmMom.com. She lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband and two small children, who inspired her to develop this Web site and to write Becoming a Calm Mom.