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Pregnancy Stress & Anxiety

Divorce or Breakups During Pregnancy

Dealing with a Breakup While Expecting

Suddenly single-divorce during pregnancyDiane Danielson of Cohasset, Mass., wasn't feeling well, but attributed it to stress. After all, she and her husband were talking about divorce. Then she found out she was nearly 3 months pregnant. Divorced by the time her only child was born, she knows all too well what it's like to deal with a breakup during a pregnancy.

"My biggest coping mechanism was denial [of the pregnancy]," Danielson says. "I hid the whole thing until I was almost 6 months pregnant – the guys at work just thought I was porking out because of the divorce."

Tips on Coping
Danielson has some tips for women coping with a breakup during pregnancy:

It's important to encourage the dad to be involved after a divorce or breakup during pregnancy, if possible.

  • Distract yourself with "non-negotiable passions" – something that can't be taken away from you that's so absorbing that you can block out all the "noise" at least a few times a week. For Danielson, that was work and sports.
  • Pamper yourself. Danielson got her hair done and bought some nice maternity clothes for work, "because one of the hardest things was that no one was around who was required to tell me I was still the same beautiful person I always was," she says.
  • Surround yourself with positive people.
  • Stop being afraid to ask for help.
  • In a divorce situation, get the best lawyer you can possibly afford. "Best thing I could have ever done," Danielson says. "Not only did it allow me to focus on my 'non-negotiable passions,' he got stuff for me (sole physical custody, health insurance, etc.) that I never would have imagined I could get and that would be more helpful to me down the road."

Other Ways to Cope
Reading about child development, bonding and co-parenting relationships may also help you cope, says Dr. Joanne Baum, a therapist who has worked and lectured extensively in the fields of family therapy, parenting and divorce for more than 30 years.

Also, "it is essential that you deal with the emotions caused by the relationship ending, lest you drag that unfinished business into your relationship with the child you're soon to have," says Russell Friedman, executive director of The Grief Recovery Institute and author of Moving On: Dump Your Relationship Baggage and Make Room for the Love of Your Life (M. Evans, 2006). "Even though the baby can't speak or understand what you say in language, he or she can be affected by what is affecting you. You must shed your relationship baggage so you can be open and safe for your child."

Sources of Support
It's important to acknowledge that ending a relationship during pregnancy adds to an already difficult experience. There are many sources of support to help you through it. Family, friends, counselors, Lamaze classes, support groups, Internet parenting sites, books and hospital-based classes are among them, Baum says. Danielson also found support at her workplace and from her girlfriends, who were helpful because they didn't pity her or feel sorry for her.


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Divorce or Breakups During Pregnancy

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Laura says
3 days, 16 hours ago

Hi,

I am new to this site (literally signed up a few mins ago).
Let me tell you a bit about me. My name is Laura; I am 24 years old and have a eight month old daughter called Summer (and live in the UK).

When I found out I was pregnant I was living with my boyfriend. When I told him, to say he wasn't happy was an understatement. In the end we split up. I was living in another part of the country from where I was from (six-hours away) so had to leave our apartment, my job - and move back with my parents. I was four months pregnant, homeless, and jobless and in another part of the country having to pick myself up and start again.

Throughout my pregnancy he kept drifting back and fourth, telling me he wanted to know only to then let me down again a week down the line. I ended up going through the whole pregnancy alone, until about 3 weeks before my due date when he came back.
The way I kept sane through my pregnancy was by keeping a diary. I have since decided to turn it into a book - to try and help other girls that are in the same situation.

The book will be out in May, I am going to create a website in about a month too, where I am hoping to put a forum where all girls in the same situation can have a chat. Because for me that was the biggest problem. I didn%u2019t feel like there was anyone out there in the same situation. Everywhere I looked it was about %u2018couples%u2019, and the %u2018three of you,%u2019 nothing for single girls; and I felt so alone. In the end I started reading fictional novels (like nine months by Sarah Ball), but at the back of my mind I knew it wasn%u2019t real. So that%u2019s why I have decided to publish my diary (a bit daring I know but if it helps).

Let me know if you want any info on it or if you just want a chat. I have created a new website with a forum for girls to share their stories with other girls. It%u2019s early days but I%u2019m really hoping it will do well once the book is out. xx
www.Laurapauley.com
My Summer Bump

When I discovered I was pregnant I quickly found myself single, homeless and jobless.
This book is my diary. An honest and personal account of everything I went through from the moment I discovered I was pregnant, to being dumped and having to move half way across the country.
It shows what it%u2019s like to go through a pregnancy alone. The pain that you suddenly feel when something pregnancy-related speaks of the fairytale couple, that your not part of, is like a different kind of pain to any other. You feel as though you did something wrong.
To go to the appointments, scans, antenatal classes, buy and make equipment, set up a new home and life for just you and your baby; to have to think of names, birthing partners, and make all the decisions yourself, to have no one to go out at 1am to get you ice cream, because that is what you happen to be craving.
You will see an intimate look at the relationship with the father, how he reacted, why he reacted, and how that one person%u2019s actions can manipulate power over you and turn you into a different person.
This book will want to make you scream, laugh, and cry at the page.
In a diary account, will the father come back? Or more importantly, as I grow and come to terms with being a single mother, will I let him?
If you are going through a pregnancy alone, if you are pregnant but in a relationship, if you are not pregnant but want to follow a story of a girl who finds herself pregnant, dumped, then homeless, to have to then pick herself up and start again; you will want to read this book. It has something for everyone.

Anonymous says
3 days, 21 hours ago

I too am now almost 6 months pregnant, hiding it, denying it, finding out what legal options I have, and feeling very afraid for when the father does find out. He was abusive in our short relationship, the reason for my getting out-- and while I had taken precautions not to become pregnant-- here I am. I have older daughters who fear for if he was to come back around, and now we are faced with do we keep this little person who didn't make the choice to be part of all this mess, or look at adoption as a better way for this little person to get all they need. It is killing me. While my family is supportive-- everyone is swore to silence while I wad through the legal ramifications of his choices and keeping us safe. I feel like a teenage who should have known better, and yet I am an adult feeling very mixed emotions about be pregnant and carry a child with a person I don't ever care to have anything to do with ever again. At least this article helped me feel no so alone

Going Crazy in Texas says
February 10, 2010

I thought I was the only one going through this. I actually feel a little better after readying this article because I to hid the pregnancy for awhile. Now I'm 6 months and I'm starting to show, or should I say I'm starting to let myself show. I'm so hurt... Our first daughter he left me at 6 months then came back when she was born and now again I'm 6 months and I can't get him to understand how he needs to change. I google the book they recommend hopefully I can get past this. I'm about to go submit my petition for Divorce.

Anonymous says
February 5, 2010

My husband of 3.5 years and I can't get along. Think differently about everything and fight all the time. I think we may get a divorce... I am so sad. I love this man and am 3 months pregnant. How do I do this? How do I do this without hurting this baby with all my emotions and stress? Anyone, can you help???

Cascella Kenney says
January 26, 2010

Iam currently 3months pregnant. I was in a 3yr relationship with someone who I had known for a long period of time. On January 22, 2010 my boyfriend said to me, "I gave us some thought and I think its "Best" if we seprate". He said that he didn't know if he was ready to be a family man or be with me long-term. He wanted to be with other females, he replied when I asked, "Why now?" I cried so hard for him asking why over and over. I had to realize that I have to move and let him be with other females.

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