First pregnancy - taking it seriously.

By Christine Hill

Having your first baby can be scary as well as exciting. Christine Hill on the anxieties you may feel

Once you've accepted that you're actually going to have a baby, a whole new set of worries come crowding into your mind.

I’m terrified of the birth. Should I book into some antenatal classes? Where? When? How? Where shall I have the baby? I think I’ll have a home birth . Actually, I think I’ll have a Caesarean. How much maternity leave do I get? When shall I give up work? What's the deal with flexible working hours? Perhaps I won’t be able to go back to work? We have GOT to move house. I must start going to the gym more so I can get fit for the birth. I mustn’t put on as much weight as the girl in accounts did. I don’t like babies much. What happens if I don’t like mine? Is my baby going to be OK?

These micro-panics are all common

Most of you will have had at least two from the list. Another way of looking at them is to call the whole process 'thinking ahead'. The alternative to thinking ahead is to block out any thought about the future, bury yourself in your work and sort of forget about the pregnancy. (Let alone the baby.) This frame of mind – denial – is of course one option, but you're likely to run into trouble when your baby is born.