Post Natal Depression

Statistics state that 1 in 10 women will get Post Natal Depression at some stage. It can last months or even years and often is not diagnosed until months after the baby is born.

There are three types of post natal emotional disturbance that often occur.

1) The rarest type is Post-Natal Psychosis. This affects maybe 2 in every 1000 women. It can cause them to be out of touch with reality to a certain extent. Symptoms usually occur within six weeks of giving birth and can include:

· Marked mood disturbances, characterised by

· very high elevated mood, or

· very low depressed mood, or

· mood swings from high to low.

· Disturbances in thought processes

· Auditory or visual hallucinations

· Sleep disturbance.

Psychiatric treatment is necessary and may even include hospital admission. Though the outlook is favourable and most women make a complete recovery.

2) The most common condition is Post-Natal blues, which usually occurs between the 3^rd and 10^th days after giving birth. Anywhere between 50% and 80% of women are affected in some way. The symptoms are thought to be caused by hormonal imbalances following childbirth and tend to settle without treatment, though the following tips may be useful;

· Eat well – Keep your blood sugar levels up. Don’t try going on any low fat diets until after your 6-8 week check after birth. Remember if you are breast feeding that this requires at least 500 calories a day. But too much caffeine and too much refined sugar can make you feel worse.

· Rest – This may sound easy but many new mothers find it difficult to rest, especially if this is not the first child. In the early days try to sleep whenever the baby sleeps, even if this means leaving the dishes undone!

· Movement – Try to take regular exercise, even a short walk round the block with the baby. This releases good mood hormones called endorphins.

· Talk about it – Depression often occurs after a difficult or complicated birth. Talking about it can help you gain ‘closure’ of the situation.

· Aromatherapy or homeopathic medicine can help, but discuss with a qualified practitioner before use.

3) Post-Natal Depression (PND) can affect one in ten women and again the causes are not obvious. It can continue for months or years and whilst often will clear up by itself, it will be shortened and less severe with treatment. Symptoms include:

· Depression – feeling low and unhappy. Sometimes the feeling can be stronger than at other times and often some days are much better than others, which in itself can be upsetting.

· Irritability – depression is often accompanied by anger or resentment, often towards the partner who you feel ‘just doesn’t understand’.

· Fatigue – different from the regular tiredness of a new mother, a mother suffering from PND will get really exhausted during the day.

· Insomnia – yet despite feeling exhausted, she cannot sleep or wakes very early in the morning.

· Loss of appetite – a lack of interest in food, which can worsen the feelings of depression.

· General feelings of ‘not coping’, anxiety, loss of enjoyment or not ‘bonding’ with your newborn – these are all features of PND.

No one really knows what causes PND but because of this often women are ashamed to admit to the feelings mentioned above. They feel they are not good mothers because they are not over the moon and coping with the completely new situation that they are in, whether this is the first or a subsequent birth.

The first step is to accept that PND is an illness that needs treatment and won’t just go away if left. Often anti-depressant drugs are prescribed and these have shown to be extremely successful. They are not addictive and can be safely taken whilst breast feeding. They do take a short time to work, up to four weeks, and need to be continued for at least 6 months to avoid relapse.

But, the most important thing is don’t keep it to yourself, talk to your GP and get help!

On a personal note!

I was diagnosed with mild PND six months after a very traumatic first birth. Whilst I was pregnant I thought there was no way I would get PND because I could cope with everything! I went back to university when my baby was 6 weeks old and did my finals 2 months later.

It was only when I was no longer pushing myself to finish that I realised that all my academics was covering up a serious problem. I was irritable, couldn’t sleep, losing weight and feeling really bad that I had not ‘bonded’ with my baby for a long time. Yes, I looked after her, and cared for her but I couldn’t say that I loved her for a very long time.

Her birth was traumatic, an induction 24 hours after my waters broke with 12 hours of very active labour followed by 1 ½ hours of pushing. I was catheterised three times during a week long stay in hospital with both the baby and me on antibiotics and the baby under a UV lamp for jaundice. I couldn’t get breast feeding properly established and ended up having to express by hand and cup feed the baby because the midwives were useless! It was only when I talked about it afterwards to a breast feeding counsellor that I realised that it had been a very unique situation and of course this would affect me.

It took six months on low dose anti-depressants before I felt back to myself and even up to six months after that, I had ‘off days’. The single most important thing I did though was to be honest with myself that I wasn’t coping. I went to the doctor, took a deep breath and said ‘I think I have PND’. I thought I would be laughed at but the doctor told me it was much more common than people thought and had even higher rates among Jewish women! I think this is because we expect so much from ourselves.

There is a test called the ‘Edinburgh Test’ for PND. Find it at this link ‘http://www.testandcalc.com/etc/tests/edin.asp’ and take it, being very honest with yourself. If your score comes out at over ten, please be kind to yourself and go and see a doctor. You will get there I promise!

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