Let's talk: Postpartum Depression

As with anything in life- pain levels during labor, spiciness of a new recipe or strength of a carefully-crafted cocktail- postpartum depression can hit us all with different levels. I think because of this it may often be dismissed as “baby blues” or chalked up to stress as life with a newborn can be overwhelming.

It's a lot more detailed than that, though. From feelings of rage, to constant tiredness, unexplained sadness and everything in between- you owe it to yourself or your partner to look out for the signs and not avoid it.

Did you know that up until fairly recently med & nursing students were taught that “if ignored, feelings of postpartum depression will go away by itself within 6 months”. What a crock!

NOW WE KNOW BETTER. WE KNOW THAT SOME WOMEN DON'T SHOW SYMPTOMS OF PPD OR PPA (POSTPARTUM ANXIETY) UNTIL AS MUCH AS 2 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF THEIR CHILD. IT CAN ALSO START PERINATALLY; IN OTHER WORDS DURING PREGNANCY THESE SIGNS CAN BEGIN TO APPEAR BUT REALLY ONLY REAR THEIR UGLY HEADS DURING THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD.

PPD & PPA typically go hand-in-hand, one being the other's evil sister feeding off of the other. According to the March of Dimes, about 1 in 7 mothers deal with this and it's an extremely common. So this is something that should be spoken of quite frequently, normalized and understood. Therapy, medication or a combination of both is proven effective treatment.

My doula trainer, Amanda Devereux said throughout my training; “You are a mother not a martyr. Everyone that gets help gets better”.

What sparked the need to write this blog was a great article I read from The New York Times:

https://parenting.nytimes.com/parent-life/mother-rage?module=ptg-onsite-share&type=link

(Excerpt from the above article:)

Mother rage is not “appropriate.” Mothers are supposed to be martyr-like in our patience. We are not supposed to want to hit our kids or to tear out our hair. We hide these urges, because we are afraid to be labeled “bad moms.” We feel the need to qualify our frustration with “I love my child to the moon and back, but....” As if mother rage equals a lack of love. As if rage has never shared a border with love. Fearing judgment, we say nothing. The rage festers and we are left under a pile of loneliness and debilitating shame.

Do yourself a favor and take a few moments to read it.

And as always, drop your thoughts below and feel free to share!

XO,

B