Gender disappointment

04/23/24 • 21 min

“Is it a boy or a girl!?”

Some parents experience sadness, distress, and feelings of shame when their baby’s gender does not match their preferences and expectations. In this episode, Lynsey and Chrissy discuss the individual, social, and cultural aspects of gender preference and gender disappointment.

If you would like to learn more about this topic, you can read Chrissy’s open-access paper here: ‘It's a girl!’ Is gender disappointment a mental health or sociocultural issue? | BJPsych Bulletin

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health difficulties, there is lots of help available. You can contact your primary care provider in the first instance, or if you are based in the UK the NHS perinatal mental health website will help you to find support in your local area.

“Is it a boy or a girl!?”

Previous Episode

Perinatal depression

Perinatal depression is one of the most common illnesses to affect people during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Its effects can be devastating and, if left untreated, it can have a huge impact on women and their families.
In this episode we are joined by Leanne Howlett to talk about her experience of perinatal depression, and her incredible work as a nurse in a perinatal mental health service.
If you would like more information about the issues discussed in this episode, here are some useful resources:

Content advisory: this episode contains content that might be distressing to some listeners, including content about self harm and suicide.

Next Episode

Sleep

Sleep is absolutely vital for the body and brain to function properly, but sleep disruption is almost universal in the perinatal period. This can have a huge impact on parenting and on mental health.
In this episode we talk to Dr Chiara Petrosellini about the complicated relationship between sleep and perinatal mental health. Tune in to hear about the science of sleep, the specific challenges in the perinatal period, and evidence-based strategies for improving sleep during this crucial time.
Recommended resources:

The Sleep Foundation
BMJ visual summary on optimising sleep for night shifts
Maternal sleeping problems before and after childbirth: a systematic review (open access paper)

Beyond Baby Blues - Gender disappointment

Transcript

[00:00:00] Lynsey: Hi, welcome to the podcast. This is beyond baby blues, our podcast about maternal mental health. I'm Dr. Lynsey McAlpine. I'm a trainee psychiatrist based in east London.

[00:00:21] Chrissy: And I'm Dr Chrissy Jayarajah. I'm a consultant perinatal psychiatrist and clinical lead working in London

[00:00:29] Lynsey: So Chrissy for today's episode, we're going to be talking about a phenomenon called gender disappoi