Most new parents have intrusive thoughts about their baby being harmed. It’s OK to talk about it

By Susanne Schweizer, Associate Professor, Cognitive Neuroscience, UNSW
Jodie Pestana, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, UNSW

Telling your friends and family you’re pregnant will earn you an avalanche of advice. Yet few parents will ever be told about a common experience that can impact the parents’ long-term mental health: perinatal intrusive thoughts.

Intrusive thoughts are sudden, unwanted and often negative. They’re typically about things we fear or don’t want to happen, such as blurting out something inappropriate in a meeting.

In the first year of a child’s life, known as the perinatal period, intrusive thoughts are often about harm to the baby. They can be about accidental harm, such as…

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