--- title: "Articles · Gentle Space" description: "Research-based articles for the mental wellbeing of parents and aspiring parents." url: "https://gentlespace.net/articles" articleCount: 18 --- # Articles Research-based articles for the mental wellbeing of parents and aspiring parents. Every article lists the sources it draws on. - [Pregnancy after loss: joy and fear, tangled together](https://gentlespace.net/articles/pregnancy-after-loss.md) — If you are pregnant again after a loss, whatever that loss was, you may be finding that joy and fear are arriving tangled together, hard to separate, sometimes hard to feel at all. - [The mental health side of baby loss, and where it can go](https://gentlespace.net/articles/mental-health-side-of-baby-loss.md) — If you have lost a baby, at any stage, in any circumstances, we are so sorry. Grief after baby loss is real, and it deserves space, whether you are the one who was pregnant or the partner alongsi - [Going through fertility treatment: looking after your mind through IVF and IUI](https://gentlespace.net/articles/fertility-treatment-looking-after-your-mind.md) — If you are going through IVF, IUI, or any other fertility treatment, and it feels like it has taken over your mind as much as your body, that makes complete sense. - [The grief of infertility that no one names](https://gentlespace.net/articles/grief-of-infertility-no-one-names.md) — If you are struggling to conceive, you may be carrying a grief that nobody has ever quite named for you. There is no funeral for the child you haven't had, no ritual, no obvious moment to mark it. - [The mental load of trying to conceive](https://gentlespace.net/articles/mental-load-of-trying-to-conceive.md) — If trying to conceive has quietly taken over more of your headspace than you expected, you are not imagining it, and you are not alone. - [Miscarriage: however early, you're allowed to grieve](https://gentlespace.net/articles/miscarriage-you-are-allowed-to-grieve.md) — If you have lost a pregnancy, we are so sorry. Whatever week you were at, whatever the circumstances, and however you are feeling right now, this is a real loss, and you are allowed to grieve it. - [When to reach out for more support — and how to do it](https://gentlespace.net/articles/when-to-reach-out-for-support.md) — One of the hardest things about struggling in early parenthood is knowing when "hard but normal" becomes "I need more than I'm currently getting." - [The dark thoughts you're afraid to say out loud](https://gentlespace.net/articles/intrusive-thoughts.md) — This article is going to name something that many new parents experience but almost no one talks about. - [The worry that won't switch off](https://gentlespace.net/articles/the-worry-that-wont-switch-off.md) — Some level of worry is normal when you become a parent. You're responsible for a person who cannot tell you if something is wrong. You're navigating an enormous amount of new information. - [Not bonding the way you expected — you're not a bad parent](https://gentlespace.net/articles/not-bonding-the-way-you-expected.md) — There's a story told about the moment a parent first holds their baby. In this story, something fundamental shifts. A rush of love, profound and immediate. A feeling of recognition, of completion. - [You are becoming someone new](https://gentlespace.net/articles/you-are-becoming-someone-new.md) — There is a word — not widely known, but slowly finding its way into the conversation — for the psychological transformation a person undergoes when they become a parent. It's called matrescence. - [Baby blues or something more? How to tell the difference](https://gentlespace.net/articles/baby-blues-or-something-more.md) — In the first week or two after birth, many new parents experience a wave of emotion that seems to arrive from nowhere. Tears at small things. A sense of being overwhelmed. - [The small things that actually help when you're running on empty](https://gentlespace.net/articles/small-things-that-actually-help.md) — Self-care advice for new parents often feels like it was written by someone who has never met a new parent. Take a long bath. Journal. Practise morning meditation. Sure. - [Why asking for help is so hard — and why you should anyway](https://gentlespace.net/articles/why-asking-for-help-is-so-hard.md) — You know, in the abstract, that asking for help is a good thing. You'd say it to a friend without hesitation. Just ask. Nobody minds. People want to help. - [It's not just tiredness — what sleep deprivation does to your mind](https://gentlespace.net/articles/what-sleep-deprivation-does-to-your-mind.md) — People will tell you you're tired. They'll say it like it's a simple fact, like the solution is just a good night's sleep away if only someone would take the baby. They mean well. - [When your relationship feels different now](https://gentlespace.net/articles/when-your-relationship-feels-different-now.md) — You went into this together. And yet, somewhere in the fog of the first few months, it can start to feel like you're going through it in parallel rather than as a team. Less connected. - [The loneliness no one talks about](https://gentlespace.net/articles/the-loneliness-no-one-talks-about.md) — You might have a partner. You might have family nearby. Your phone might be full of messages checking in. And yet — you might feel more alone than you ever have. - [Nobody told you it would feel like this](https://gentlespace.net/articles/nobody-told-you-it-would-feel-like-this.md) — There's a version of early parenthood that exists in the photos. The soft light, the tiny sleeping face, the parent gazing down with something that looks unmistakably like peace. ## If things feel very dark right now If things feel very dark right now, you don't have to wait. These lines are free and confidential. - **Samaritans** — 116 123 — Free, confidential, 24/7. - **PANDAS Foundation** — pandasfoundation.org.uk — Perinatal mental health support, via WhatsApp and callback. - **CALM** — 0800 58 58 58 — Support for anyone in crisis.