Postnatal depression is the kind of depression that a lot of parents have after the birth of their baby. This usually starts anywhere in between the first month of childbirth. It can be last up to one year. Statistics show that about 10 percent of women suffer from postnatal depression. Although people typically know about postnatal depression among women. It also affects the fathers that do not come to light in most cases because of various socio-cultural reasons.
Signs and Symptoms of Postnatal Depression
For most parents, the time after childbirth is not so distressing. Many women feel teary, anxious, and moody for up to 72 hours within the first few days. The birth of their babies, which the specialists call baby blues. “Baby blues” does not last for more than 14 days of childbirth, but if the signs and symptoms in you start later or if they stay longer, you are more likely to develop postnatal depression. This can begin at any time after you give birth to your baby. If you feel sadness, low mood, tiredness, lack of enjoyment, energy, and interest in the outer world persistently, these are the signs of your being depressed after pregnancy. Facing trouble sleeping at night and feeling sleepy during the day, finding difficulties bonding with your child, keeping yourself aloof from others, having problems concentrating and making decisions, terrible thinking like hurting your baby are also signs of postnatal depression.
Things to Remember While Speaking to a GP or Midwife About Your Depression
There are many general physicians, midwives, and health visitors trained in postnatal depression. They know the techniques, therapy, that can help you. You need to remember that depression is an illness like any other disease and that it is not your fault that you are depressed, as it can happen to anyone else. Being depressed does not prove that you are going mad or a bad parent and that none will take your baby away from you unless it is a very emergency situation, though temporarily.
Postnatal Depression and Its Treatment
The First Stage of Treatment — Self-help
The first stage of treatment for postnatal depression is self-help. You can talk to your husband, family members, and friends about your feelings and find out their role and capabilities to help you. Then, you can try to make time for yourself, taking their help so that you can do the things that you like to do for pleasure. Whenever you get the chance, you should try to take a rest, as it is very important to recover from depression. Try to get as much sleep at night, take regular physical exercise, and eat a healthy balanced diet.
Postnatal Depression for Surrogate Mothers
Thus surrogate mothers carry and give birth babies for its intended parents so some emotional aspects occur in that cases. Whether you are a surrogate mother or mamma surrogata and having these issues kind of depression, you might visit a psychologist that should be provided by your agency or clinic.
The Second Stage — Psychological Therapy
The second stage of treatment for postnatal depression is psychological therapy. If a GP considers that merely a self-help course may not be effective enough for your sad condition, then he/she may refer you to enroll in a course of therapy, namely cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
The Third Stage of Treatment — Antidepressants
The third stage of treatment for postnatal depression is antidepressants. If your depression is more serious and when other treatments have failed to work, your doctor will prescribe you medications that are safe to take as a breastfeeding mother.
With the support of the husband and the other members of the family, postnatal depression is easily manageable. But if this is not the case and if you keep experiencing ongoing postnatal depression, you must seek professional help. With proper support, a hundred percent recovery is possible.