Embrace New Life Counseling & Wellness

How Are You Doing, Mom?

Motherhood doesn't always feel the way you expected it to.

You may feel anxious when you thought you'd feel joyful. You may have thoughts that frighten you. You may feel unlike yourself - or someone who loves you may have noticed the change first.

This check-in is simply a place to begin. It can help you notice signs of anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts and OCD, as well as symptoms that may need immediate medical attention.

You don't need to know what's wrong before asking for help.

A frightening, unwanted thought does not necessarily mean you want it to happen.
This check-in also asks about changes in thinking, sleep, behavior, or perception that can require urgent medical evaluation.
About 3 minutesPrivate on this pageEducationalImmediate results
What this is: an educational check-in to help identify patterns that may deserve professional attention. What this is not: a diagnosis, validated clinical test, emergency service, or substitute for evaluation by a licensed medical or mental health professional. Embrace does not monitor these answers in real time.

Who are you answering for?

You don’t have to be certain. Answer based on what you have personally noticed or what she has told you. If you do not know, choose “I’m not sure.” Changes noticed by people who know her well can be important.

1. Mood & connection

Think about the past two weeks. Choose the answer that best reflects what you’ve noticed.

I have felt persistently sad, empty, hopeless, or unlike myself.
Things I usually enjoy have felt flat, distant, or hard to care about.
Guilt, shame, worthlessness, or feeling like a “bad mother” has been hard to shake.
My mood or emotional state is making everyday functioning or caring for myself harder.

2. Anxiety & overwhelm

I feel keyed up, panicky, on edge, or unable to settle even when things are reasonably safe.
Worry feels difficult to control or jumps quickly from one feared outcome to another.
Fear or anxiety is interfering with sleep, leaving home, being alone with the baby, work, relationships, or daily routines.

3. Intrusive thoughts & OCD-like patterns

Unwanted intrusive thoughts can be frightening. Having an unwanted thought is not the same as wanting it to happen.

I have recurring unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses about something terrible happening to me or the baby.
These thoughts feel unwanted, upsetting, frightening, or inconsistent with what I actually want.
I repeatedly check, avoid, clean, seek reassurance, research, pray, count, review events, or perform rituals to reduce fear or prevent something bad from happening.
These thoughts or behaviors take significant time, feel difficult to resist, or interfere with daily life.

4. Symptoms that can need urgent medical evaluation

These questions are intentionally separate from the mood/anxiety questions. If any are happening now, this check-in will direct you toward immediate or urgent evaluation rather than relying on a total score.

Hearing voices, seeing things, or sensing messages that other people do not seem to hear, see, or perceive.
Strong beliefs that others say are not true or do not make sense, including feeling specially chosen, watched, controlled, commanded, or that ordinary events contain special messages.
Severe confusion, disorganization, rapidly changing behavior, or difficulty telling what is real.
Very little or no sleep together with unusually high energy, racing thoughts, extreme agitation, impulsivity, or feeling unusually powerful or invincible.
Thoughts of suicide, intentionally harming myself, or concern that I may not be able to keep myself safe.
Thoughts of intentionally harming the baby that I want to act on, feel commanded to act on, believe I should act on, or am not confident I can resist.
I am not confident that I can safely care for myself or the baby right now.

If you are answering about someone else, choose “Yes” whenever you have observed the symptom or have serious reason to believe it may be happening.

Your check-in result

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Important: This educational check-in does not diagnose depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, postpartum psychosis, or any other condition. It is not monitored by Embrace and does not create a therapist-client relationship. Symptoms can also have medical causes; contact an OB/GYN, primary-care clinician, or other medical professional when symptoms are new, severe, rapidly changing, or concerning.