Trigger warning: miscarriage
A North Yorkshire woman who sought support from our Trust after a devastating miscarriage has spoken out about her “life-changing” care in a new video.
Laura Lynch, from Boroughbridge, underwent Talking Therapies treatment for acute anxiety after discovering she was pregnant again just a few months later.
Talking through her concerns helped Laura rationalise her feelings, focus on what she needed to do and even made her relationship with her husband stronger.
Now Laura, 36, has worked with our Trust and the Every Mum Matters campaign to co-create a film about her experience of treatment, and how it helped her.
“I can’t recommend the service enough,” she said. “It’s no exaggeration to say I found the treatment to be life changing.”
Tragic loss led to anxiety
Laura only found out she had lost her first child when she underwent a routine 12-week scan. Just a few months later, while still grieving, she became pregnant again.
The miscarriage impacted her enjoyment around the new pregnancy, and she experienced health anxiety – continuously worrying about what might happen.
“I would wake up at night and instantly think about my pregnancy,” she said. “I was always catastrophising the situation and fearing the worst.”
Her GP recommended she seek support from North Yorkshire Talking Therapies after Laura developed high blood pressure, tearful moods and feelings of distraction.
The service offers perinatal support for women during or after pregnancy with mental health issues such as anxiety – and Laura found it a great help at a stressful time.
“Instead of saying ‘if’ something goes wrong, I would always start with ‘when’ and I was informed that this was an unhealthy thinking pattern,” said Laura.
“I was taught how to examine why you feel a certain way and rationalise feelings. I felt so much more equipped to deal with anything if something was to go wrong.”
Co-creation is vital in improving care
Laura went on to give birth to a son, Dougie, and both are doing well. She remains incredibly grateful, however, for the support she received from Talking Therapies.
“To begin with I felt betrayed by my body, but Talking Therapies helped me focus on what I needed to do. I’m a huge advocate for this service,” she said.
Helen Dodd, an associate practitioner at North Yorkshire Talking Therapies, said: “Laura’s amazing film is one of several co-creation projects we are involved with.
“Without co-creation we can only guess and assume what makes things better for people.
“When we work in partnership and when we really listen, we can truly begin to understand the needs of individuals and communities and shape services together.
“Co-creation is about building genuine relationships, having mutual respect and sharing skills and learning that leads us all to improve care.”
- Watch Laura’s video on the Every Mum Matters website. More information on Talking Therapies is available on our Trust website.
