Panic attacks during pregnancy: when to seek help

When do you need urgent help?

Call local emergency services for chest pain, sudden severe breathing difficulty, fainting, heavy bleeding or severe, constant abdominal pain. Contact your maternity team straight away for other vaginal bleeding, leaking fluid, a severe headache that does not go away, changes in vision or a reduction in your baby’s usual movements. Tell them you are pregnant and how far along you are.

What might you feel and when should you seek help?

Your heart suddenly starts racing while you are out. You stop, the wave eases, and you want to make sense of what happened. Note what came first and what you were doing just before it.

• Sudden fear or a feeling that you are losing control.
• A racing heart, shaking, sweating or dizziness.
• A feeling of breathlessness or worry that it will happen again.

Yav in the institute’s framework means what you can describe now: your sensations, the circumstances and how they affect your day. Many people feel worried before a check-up or childbirth. If worry affects your sleep, eating, ability to go out or attend appointments, tell your maternity clinician.

When should you contact a clinician?

Say how long the episode lasted, whether it happened at rest or during activity, and what medicines or supplements you take. Your clinician will decide whether you need an examination or tests.

For recurring panic attacks, ask about cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). If you already take medication for anxiety, talk to your prescriber and maternity clinician before changing the dose or stopping it.

Why can the fear return?

You notice your heart racing, think “Something has happened,” tense up and check your pulse again. It is like a sensitive alarm: a loud sound gets your attention, and you still need to find out what set it off. Make a short note so you can describe the episode to your clinician.

Feeling frightened does not make you weak. You can ask for help before you know what happened.

What can you notice in past experiences?

Nav in Alexander Zharkov’s framework means past experience and learned rules, including family patterns. A “breach in your boundaries” or “taking in other people’s chaos” describes how others’ expectations can crowd out your need for a pause. These metaphors help you talk about boundaries. A clinician assesses the cause of symptoms.

• What was happening before you found it hard to relax?
• What was difficult to ask for: a pause, help or someone to come with you?
• What familiar rule came to mind?

What can you do during a familiar attack?

During a familiar attack, follow the plan you agreed with your clinician. If you are somewhere safe, you can try a short exercise in paying attention to your body, which the institute calls working with Zhiva.

1. If it feels comfortable, sit down and put both feet on the floor.
2. Rest your hands on your thighs. Breathe at a comfortable pace without forcing or holding your breath.
3. Look at one object nearby and silently name its colour.

Stop if the exercise makes you feel worse. Seek help straight away if you notice urgent warning signs.

How can you feel steadier in daily life?

Prav in the institute’s framework means the direction you choose next. Start with practical arrangements: who to call, what to ask and who can stay with you.

1. Save your maternity team’s number and find out who to call at night.
2. Write down one situation and one question about what to do if it happens again.
3. Ask someone close to you for one specific thing: “Stay with me while I make the call.”

The institute has a separate 40-day programme about habits and boundaries. Its six stages explore attention to the body, emotions, thoughts and family patterns.

How can healthcare and the Zhiva approach fit together?

Elizaveta’s personal account

Elizaveta speaks to the camera in her ninth month of pregnancy. She says she had many questions before giving birth and that Alexander responded even when she asked the same thing again. She describes support while waiting for the birth. The video gives no account of panic attacks or the birth itself.

Questions about panic attacks in pregnancy

Where can you start a personal consultation?

If you want to explore how to ask someone close to you for support, choose one conversation. Quantum Diagnostics is a personal consultation about past experience, current circumstances and your next step, using Alexander Zharkov’s approach.