I Gave Birth to My Heart: a Collection of Poems about Motherhood, Reimagined - Paperback

by Lcsw Ashley Hanna Morgan (Author)

I never expected to get Postpartum Depression and Anxiety. As a licensed clinical social worker, I thought I knew all about depression. I treat people with depression. Surely knowing what it is and how to treat it will prevent me from getting it, right? But expectations are tricky little things with surprisingly inaccurate predictions of the future. Because it is dubbed the "smiling depression" and because people who have not been through it often wonder, "what are parents so sad about after they have a baby?" I wanted to draw back the curtains and give readers a glimpse into what recovery from Postpartum Depression and Anxiety actually feels like in this collection of poems. With or without Postpartum Depression, if you have had children and experienced the breaking down of your life and rebuilding from the ground up, you will find yourself in some of these lines of verse. If you have gone through infertility or the loss of a child through miscarriage, stillbirth, illness, or making an adoption plan for your baby, these poems reveal a process through grief and loss. Even if you have never had children, you will get a glimpse into the secret anguishes and innumerable joys universal to parents, and one mother's reinvention of herself after Postpartum Depression and Anxiety. (Large Print Edition)

Author Biography

Ashley Hanna Morgan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) specializing in Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, as well as Grief and Loss. In 2016, she wrote the curriculum for and started the first free Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based support group in Los Angeles for parents with Postpartum Depression and Anxiety, after she worked through it personally. She is currently the Postpartum Support International Regional Coordinator for Reno, Nevada, where she now lives with her husband, Jayson, her Shih Tzu, Obi Wan, and her daughter and inspiration, Emerie Violet. Connect with Ashley on her website: ashleyhannamorgan.com