Postnatal Depression
Postnatal depression is a type of depression that many parents experience after having a baby.
- It is very common, 1 in 10 women can experience this within a year of giving birth.
- It can also affect fathers and partners
- Its is important to seek help as soon as possible
- Postnatal depression is not just the ‘Baby Blues’ Postnatal depression can last for months, where as ‘Baby Blues’ is normally a short period of feeling low
- It can develop gradually and is not something that just suddenly starts.
Causes:
- A history of mental ill health, particularly depression, earlier in life
- A history of mental ill health during pregnancy
- Having no close family or friends to support
- A poor relationship with partner
- Recent stressful life events, such as bereavement
- Experiencing the ‘Baby Blues’
Common signs:
- Persistent feeling sad and or low mood
- Lack of enjoyment and loss of interest in the wider world
- Lack of energy and feeling tired all the time (This is hard to identify as having a new baby can be tiring getting into a routine)
- Trouble sleeping at night and feeling sleepy during the day
- Difficulty bonding with your baby
- Withdrawing from contact with other people
- Lack of concentration and finding it difficult in making decisions
- Frightening thoughts- for example about hurting your baby
Getting help:
- Speak to your GP
- Many Health Visitors have been trained to recognised postnatal depression and have strategies that can help, if not they will be able to signpost to someone who can
- Self -help strategies: *Talk to your partner/spouse / people you live with about how you are feeling, they can understand and help * Making time for yourself to do the things you enjoy *resting whenever you get the chance *getting as much sleep as you can *exercising regularly *healthy diet
- Psychological therapy- Talk to your GP about this
- Antidepressants- These may be recommended to you if other treatments haven’t been successful
Myths about postnatal depression :
- Postnatal depression is less severe than other types of depression- it is as serious as other types
- Postnatal depression is entirely caused by hormonal changes- it is caused by many factors as mentioned above
- Postnatal depression will soon pass- It can persist for months not like the ‘Baby Blues’
- Postnatal depression only affects women- in fact 1 in 10 new fathers experience depression after having a baby
The difference between Postpartum depression, postnatal depression
and perinatal depression:
The above three terms are all linked to around the time a new family are having a baby!
- Postnatal depression and Postpartum both refer to after birth. However, postpartum is correlated with the mothers conditions, whereas postnatal relate to the baby
- Perinatal depression is depression while pregnant and after
National organisations
Association for Postnatal Illness – https://apni.org/
Pre and Postnatal Depression Advice and Support – https://www.pandasfoundation.org.uk/helpline/