When a hard start stays with you
Psychiatric care for mothers in the months after a high-risk birth, a premature delivery or a NICU stay, in Minot and by telehealth.
Book a Free 15-Minute Consult
Coming Home From a Hard Start
Maybe the birth came early, or came with emergencies no one could have planned for. Maybe your baby's first days or weeks were spent in the NICU, and you learned monitors and schedules before you had a chance to settle in at home.
Coming home can bring relief, and it can also bring a new kind of strain. The fear from those early days does not always leave when the danger does. You might still feel on alert, keep replaying moments from the hospital, or find it hard to believe the baby is really okay.
Emotional support matters for mothers and families in those months, and your own mental health deserves care alongside the baby's. The months after a high-risk birth are part of my primary specialty, perinatal mental health.
Things You Might Be Carrying
- The baby is home, so why am I still on edge?
- I still hear the monitors when the house is quiet.
- Everyone says the hard part is over. It doesn't feel over.
- I missed the first weeks I thought I would have.
Any of these is a reasonable thing to bring to an evaluation, however long ago the birth was.
How a Hard Start Can Stay With You
The evaluation looks at what the experience left behind as well as how you are doing now.
Staying on Alert
Listening for every sound, checking again and again, or struggling to rest even when the baby is safe and sleeping nearby.
Memories That Return
Moments from the delivery or the NICU that come back unasked, in your thoughts, in your dreams or as a sudden rush of feeling.
Grief for What You Expected
Sadness or anger about the birth, the first days or the early closeness you hoped for and did not get to have.
Worn Down by Caregiving
The tiredness of months of appointments, worry and constant caregiving, and the way your own sleep, meals and health slide out of view.
Care for You, Alongside the Baby
After a hard start, much of the attention goes to the baby's health, and it should. Your health matters in this too. We work toward a clearer understanding of what you are carrying, a plan you agree with, and steady attention to your brain health and overall wellness.
There is no set timeline for this, and I won't pretend to know how quickly things will shift. What I can offer is patience, plain explanations and a pace you have a say in. You decide how much of what happened you want to revisit, and when.
How Care Can Start
If leaving the house is hard right now, the evaluation can happen from home by telehealth.
- 1
Free 15-Minute Consult
A brief phone conversation, free of charge, about how you are doing now and what you want to know before going further.
- 2
Initial Evaluation
60 to 90 minutes, in person in Minot or by telehealth. We go over the birth, the NICU stay if there was one, your history and how you have been since.
- 3
Follow-Up Sessions
Sessions of 30 to 45 minutes to see how you are coping, what has shifted and whether the plan needs to change.
Fees in Brief
The phone consult is free and takes 15 minutes. An initial evaluation is $300, and each follow-up session is $125.
- Consult
- $0
- 15 min
- Evaluation
- $300
- 60 to 90 min
- Follow-up
- $125
- 30 to 45 min
Questions After a Hard Start
The baby is doing well now. Why am I still struggling?
Relief that the baby is well and distress about what happened can sit side by side. That is worth talking about, and you don't have to justify why it still matters to you.
It has been months since the NICU. Is it too late to reach out?
It isn't too late. A hard start can stay with you well past the hospital, and you can reach out whenever you notice it.
What if it all feels like too much right now?
If you are thinking about harming yourself or feel you are in crisis, call or text 988 or call 911 now. This site is not an emergency service. If things are hard but not an emergency, the free 15-minute phone consult is a gentle place to start.
There is room here for what you went through
Start with a free 15-minute phone consult, and share as much or as little about the birth as you want.
Book a Free 15-Minute Consult