In the first moments, your new little one seems more like an alien than a bundle of joy, but after a bath for baby and a few deep breaths for the new parents, your little angel looks their part. Their little red face is all scrunched up, and the sounds that voice from their puckered little mouth are the most precious notes you could ever hope for. You ache any time the nurses take them for tests, and you deny offers from well meaning friends and family who offer to hold them while you get some sleep. All you want to do is be with your new baby, and you'll forego food, water and sleep to do just that! Postpartum Baby Blues
Nine months you have waited patiently and excitedly for the precious event that lay ahead - the birth of your new baby and to hold him/her for the very first time. You dreamed of it and you planned for it, and the time arrives and your feelings are not like you expected. Instead of the overwhelming feeling of joy and love that you expected to feel, you feel anxious, depressed, exhausted and just not yourself.
How can it be that you can feel so unhappy and overwhelmed? You are not alone. One in 10 women experience a condition called postpartum depression (PPD) after childbirth.
After childbirth there are three types of depression that can occur, and these are the baby blues, postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis.
The most common form of depression is the baby blues, and the following symptoms characterize this type of depression:
- mild sadness
- tearfulness
- anxiety
- irritability for no clear reason
- mood fluctuations
- fatigue
When do the baby blues occur? They start 3-4 days after delivery and can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The baby blues are short-lived as they often resolve within about 10 days after childbirth.
Postpartum depression usually occurs about 4 weeks after childbirth. PPD is a mix of physical, emotional and behavioral changes that occur in a mother after giving birth. Ten percent of new mothers experience this more serious type of depression. Symptoms range from mild to severe depression and may appear within days of delivery or gradually, perhaps up to a year later.
Some symptoms of PPD are:
- Loss of interest or pleasure in life
- Loss of appetitie
- Less energy and motivation to do things
- A hard time falling asleep or staying asleep.
- Sleeping more than usual
- Increased crying or tearfulness
- Feeling worthless, hopeless or guilty
- Feeling irritable or anxious
- Unexplained weight loss or gain
- Having thoughts about hurting yourself
- Having thoughts about harming the baby
For each woman, the length of time that PPD lasts is different - some feel better in a couple of weeks while others may feel depressed for months. Most women experience PPD for 6 months and, if left untreated, some are still depressed a year later.
The most severe form of postnatal depression is postpartum psychosis and is extreme in that women with this condition have delusions or hallucinations that often focus on hurting themselves or their babies. This form is of depression is rare and affects about 0.1% to 0.2% of women, yet is an extremely serious condition that requires hospitalization.
The cause of these depressions isn’t known but it is believed that the hormone changes may produce chemical changes in the brain that play a part in causing depression. Hormone levels do change during pregnancy and right after birth.
The most important issue is that new mothers should realize the signs of depression and get help as soon as possible. Find someone to talk to and tell that person about your feelings or talk with your doctor about how you feel. He or she may offer counseling and/or medicines that can help.
Many women have had the same experience. If you gave birth recently and are feeling blue, anxious, or have any of the other symptoms mentioned as above, you are not alone. You are not “going crazy” or “losing your mind”! The best thing you can do for your baby is to seek help.
