Workshop For New Moms - Dr Sarah Allen Northbrook

New Mom Workshop

Having a baby, whether your first or one of many, can be a major life stress.

Family Workshops - Dr Sarah Allen in Chicago IL

A FREE Workshop For Pregnant & New Moms Brought To You By The Postpartum Depression Alliance of IL & Dr. Sarah Allen

Are you pregnant and wondering what life will be like when this new baby arrives?

Have you recently had your first baby and are finding that motherhood is different from how you expected it to be?

Feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility of a new life totally reliant on you?

Pregnant with your second and worried how your first born will adapt and how will you cope with two?

Feeling that your relationships with your partner, family and friends has brought changes and all the changes the baby has brought to your family?

Next workshop:

We Are Not Currently Offering The Workshop Until It Is Safe To Be In Person

Next Date – TBA

3400 Dundee Road, Suite 245, Northbrook

Call 847 791-7722 to pre-register

Come and meet other moms who feel the same way!

The workshop is free.

This workshop provides a safe and non-judgmental way to discuss the demands of motherhood and how your life and relationships have or will change.

We often lose sight of our own needs when we are a mom and as well as looking at the challenges parenting brings, we will talk about ways you can look after yourself emotionally so you have the emotional reserves to look after your family.

It is appropriate for both first-time and more experienced moms.

Babies welcome.

A Little Bit About Me & About The PPD Alliance of Illinois

I feel passionate about helping women feel supported when they journey through motherhood and I have made it my mission for the past 20+ years. I run this workshop in my role as Director of the Postpartum Depression Alliance of IL so I want to share a little bit about the Alliance and also my experience.

Women can feel very isolated when they get home from the hospital with a new baby and it can be hard to meet other new moms or have an opportunity to discuss the day-to-day challenges of parenting. For many, feelings of anxiousness and /or sadness last longer than the couple of weeks we call the “baby blues”. If you are feeling unsure or overwhelmed or just want to talk with other new moms, this workshop is for you.

If we have spoken on the phone you would have realized from my accent that I am from England. When I did my doctoral thesis there I researched postpartum depression and also the impact of traumatic birth experiences. During that time I was attached to the maternity wards of a large city hospital and I worked with many new moms. I naturally carried on doing the same work here when I set up a practice in Northbrook 19 years ago because that is what I love to do.

After being in the US a while though I saw that there was huge lack of the type of services I was providing so 18 years ago I founded the Postpartum Depression Alliance of Illinois and with of help of wonderful volunteers, we provide support to pregnant and new moms from all over Illinois and help them find resources.

I have also worked with the Governor to get May proclaimed as Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month in Illinois and with hospitals to provide screening and education about perinatal mood disorders. The more general awareness there is about how common pregnancy & postpartum mood disorders are, the more women feel comfortable asking for help.

You don’t need to reach the point where you are feeling depressed to get help though, prevention is very important. I believe all moms need and deserve support and this is why I run this free workshop for new moms.

I hope you’ll join me for the next workshop.

Sarah

If you feel you need more support than a group or workshop can offer and wish to see me for individual counseling, I see clients in my Northbrook office or for your convenience, via telephone or internet sessions

If you have any questions about the workshop or wish to set up a time to discuss your personal needs

contact me at 847 791-7722 or on the form below.

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Testimonials

When I had my first baby I had what I now know was postpartum depression but I didn’t get any help. It did go away after about 18mths but it was a miserable way to begin motherhood. When I was pregnant with my second child I started to become depressed again and this time told my OB/GYN how I was feeling and she referred me to Sarah. By starting to deal with how I felt and change the way I was handling the stresses in my life, I was in a much better place when my baby was born. The second time round my PPD was much less severe and didn’t last as long. Sarah was also really helpful in teaching me ways to make the transition of becoming a big sister easier for my oldest one too. My husband came with me for some sessions and that really helped our relationship and we started working on parenting issues together. Sarah’s counsel and support really helped our family transition to the good place we are all in today.

Sara D.

I began seeing Dr. Allen when my first child was around a year old. I had experienced a very traumatic birth, after a difficult pregnancy where I was on bed rest for a good portion of the time. The first year of my son’s life was spent worrying constantly. I also experienced flashbacks to the birth, which was an emergency C-section under general anesthesia. My son was in the NICU for several days following his birth, and I was not given very much information as to why. I remember thinking that he would die, or that something awful was going to happen. I experienced a great deal of anxiety that first year, and I thought that it was due to being a new mom. I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t eating as normal, and I remember being worried about leaving the house or taking my baby with me anywhere. I worried constantly about illness, germs, etc. The first day that I saw Dr. Allen, she gave me some questionnaires to fill out before we started talking. Then we sat down and talked about my experiences with my son’s birth and the early days of his life, and the year or so since then. I remember to this day the relief that I felt when she looked at me and said that I had PPD and PTSD, which was a result of the trauma I experienced during and immediately after the birth of my son. She explained how my brain had reacted to the stress of these events, and related it to why I was feeling the way that I felt. It made so much sense. Then, she described ways that I could get over the trauma, work through the feelings, and recover from PTSD and PPD. I felt so empowered, and so happy that the way I felt had a name, and that it was treatable. It also made me feel so validated in the ways that I had felt and reacted following my son’s birth. I wasn’t going crazy. My reaction was normal and natural. And with the help of Dr. Allen, and the type of therapy that she uses, I knew I could recover. It is over five years since that first visit with Dr. Allen, and I still use the tools that she taught me today to deal with stress. I credit her with helping me to become a more empowered, happier person.

Elizabeth