Feeling Blue After Childbirth? Know About Postpartum Depression & How You Can Get Better

There is probably nothing more life-changing than birthing a child. Becoming a mother post the nine-month process of carrying the baby and bringing a whole new human being to life is phenomenal, to say the least.

While giving birth to one's own baby may be the happiest moment in a person's life, it is not how it seems in the movies for some mothers. In fact, after giving birth to a child many women experience depression. This phenomenon is known as Postpartum or perinatal depression.

What is postpartum depression?

Dr Rishi Gautam, assistant professor of psychiatry at the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Washington, DC, USA has explained what is postpartum depression. He says, "Postpartum depression is a medical condition experienced by many mothers around or within a few weeks of giving birth. It is characterised by a depressed mood or severe mood swings, frequent crying spells, difficulty bonding with your baby, disrupted sleep, decreased appetite, overwhelming tiredness or decreased energy, persistent feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness or feelings of inadequacy, severe anxiety or panic attacks and restlessness which may even evolve into thoughts of wanting to harm yourself or harm your baby¡±.

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The thing about postpartum depression is that anyone of any gender and of any sexuality can go through it after being a parent. This can include a birth parent, adoptive or even surrogates.

As per Dr Gautam, ¡°The prevalence of postpartum depression in India is around 22% based on a meta-analysis published in WHO bulletin in 2016¡±(Upadhyay et al.)

What are the signs of postpartum depression?

A lot of people feel, sad and fatigued post birth and it can be the cause of baby blues. As per Dr Gautam, baby blues is different from postpartum depression. ¡°Baby Blues on the other hand is a related, but much milder and more common form of mood changes experienced by most new Mothers. Unlike Baby Blues which is less intense and lasts for a shorter period, postpartum depression can cause impairments in your ability to take care of yourself, your baby, your work or everyday activities¡±.

As per healthy moms strong babies, the symptoms often start within 1 to 3 weeks after having a baby. It can make you feel disconnected from your baby. You may feel as though you don¡¯t love your baby. These feelings are not your fault.

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The symptoms are obviously very much similar to a person with regular depression.

Feeling overwhelmed

Post a new baby everything can seem too much. To take care of them, to handle your sleep and their sleep. It's a completely new life.

Crying or feeling sad a lot

Taking responsibility for a new human being can be a lot. The overwhelmedness can be too much which makes you cry thinking you don't know what to do.

Having no energy or motivation

The things you liked doing before don't get your interest anymore. There is no motivation for doing anything you liked anymore.

Not sleeping much or sleeping a lot

If you are sleeping a lot or not at all, it can affect your mental health tremendously. Wanting to detach yourself from everything by sleeping is a way of avoiding what is going on in one's life.

Either you eat too much or too little

Your relationship with the food changes and you don't feel too hungry and you just lose your appetite from food.

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What causes postpartum depression?

While a proper reason has not been denoted for getting postpartum depression, there are a few causes that can bring this up:

Genes of a person

Genes are basically the parts of the body that are derived from your ancestors. Genes are basically passed down from the parents to their children. Physical and mental problems can be carried down to the children if the parents had them. Depression is more common in people whose family members have depression. Basically, a family history of depression can cause children to have it too.

Hormone levels change after pregnancy

During pregnancy, your body has higher levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. But when the pregnancy occurs, the hormones drop very quickly in the first 24 hours. This change in hormones can be a cause of postpartum syndrome.

Dr Gautam adds, ¡°Some risk factors associated with developing it are the history of mental health problems, female baby, financial difficulties, limited social support from partner or family, domestic violence, preterm of low birth weight and medical illnesses in the newborn.¡±

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Is there prevention for postpartum depression?

As per the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force people who have a risk of depression should start taking therapy or get counselling beforehand. Having a child can be nerve-wracking and talking about those feelings can definitely help ease the anxiety.

As per the task force, people with one or more of these symptoms should seek counselling.

- Current signs and symptoms of depression

- A history of depression or other mental health condition

- Being pregnant as a teenager or being a single mom

- Having stressful life circumstances, like low income

- Being a victim of IPV

What is the treatment for postpartum depression?

As per the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the treatment for postpartum depression includes a lot of things. It can include medication, certain forms of therapy, and support groups.

Medications

As per the department, the most common medications to provide for postpartum depression are antidepressants. These medications can start working within 6 to 8 weeks of continuous use. However, medications do have some side effects that can vary in severity. Side effects from antidepressants can include feelings of agitation or anxiety, digestive issues, and headaches, among others.

Therapy

Studies have suggested that taking therapy and counselling after giving birth can help get out of postpartum depression. One can try Cognitive behavioural therapy (also called CBT) which generally manages all your negative thoughts by changing the way one thinks or acts. The therapist helps you identify your goals and helps identify the negative thoughts.

Natural remedies

There are certain things one can do to balance out postpartum depression. These include going out and meeting people. Joining a community. Taking time for yourself by doing some kind of hobby. Exercising and eating a balanced diet.

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Dr Gautam now concludes this by saying, ¡°Please monitor for your own internal mood states during and after childbirth. While giving birth is exciting, joyful and stressful all at the same time, it is not normal to develop excessive sadness, detachment from your baby or your life in general or to have suicidal thoughts. Please call for emergency medical assistance if such feelings develop and seek out mental health treatment. Recovery of postpartum depression is very common and reliable with good quality therapy and medications¡±.