Maternal Mental Health
The baby blues are considered a common complication of postpartum adjustment given the hormonal shifts following birth and impacts 85% of new mothers. Transient feelings of sadness, anxiety, fatigue, or irritability alternating with periods of joy are typical. How do mothers know when it’s something more serious?
1 in 5 women experience mental health challenges after pregnancy. 70% will hide or underplay the severity and impact on their wellbeing. Many will not receive support due to shame, stigma, financial constraints, or lack of awareness.
If you or someone you know could benefit from speaking with a therapist specializing in Maternal Mental Health, know you’re not alone. Just as we know that applying enough pressure to any bone results in a break, the same goes for mental health. It doesn’t mean the bone or the human are “weak.” It means the pressure was enough to cause the reaction. No more, no less. It’s ok to not be ok and it’s important to understand when support is needed. With help, there’s a path to feeling well again.
For anyone in need of support, option to call or text the 24/7 National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). This is a great way to receive immediate support from trained and licensed mental health providers, or to call on behalf of a loved one to learn about ways to help. Visit postpartum.net for international options.
At Post Pamper, a licensed therapist can be made available if in-person support is desired. Should continued care be needed upon check-out, the therapist can continue to work with the family and formulate a care plan. Although symptoms may present similarly, there are many different ways to provide treatment.
Post Pamper ensures a nonjudgmental space where the family can understand all care options and help determine the best path forwards. As many can imagine, it’s hard to arrange or find quality support while in the thick of experiencing mental health challenges. Having a licensed and caring professional at your fingertips during postpartum is something we want to normalize and make more available.
Postpartum Depression (PPD)
1 in 7 women experience PPD. Symptoms could present as a depressed mood most of the day nearly every day, insomnia, significant change in appetite, anxiety, intrusive thoughts about harm to self or infant, weepiness, feeling inadequate, irritability, anger, hopelessness, no longer wanting to live while feeling this way, difficulty concentrating, or loss of pleasure.
Postpartum Anxiety (PPA)
Symptoms could present as excessive worry that interferes with ability to get through the day, pervasive worry and emotional distress, tension, irritability, nervousness, feelings of impending doom, preoccupation of uncontrollable worries to the physical wellbeing of self or baby, nausea, shakiness, blurry vision, insomnia, fatigue, restlessness, racing heart, or shortness of breath.
Postpartum OCD
Around 1-2% of postpartum mothers impacted. Symptoms could present as obsessive behavior, urges that may or may not be accompanied by compulsive behaviors (i.e. checking baby’s breathing compulsively or reassurance seeking questions), avoidance of certain activities that trigger scary thoughts such as driving, picking up baby, or bathing baby. Sleep disturbances, thoughts focused on baby getting sick, hurt, contaminated, stolen, lost, or dying. Fear of being alone with baby or reluctant to share thoughts for fear of baby being taken away.
Postpartum Pyschosis
The least common but the most serious. Symptoms could present as delusions, hallucinations, avoidance of infant, loss of touch with reality, extreme agitation, confusion, disorganized thinking, inability to sleep for several nights, irritability, racing thoughts, rapid speech, rapid mood swings, paranoia, suicidal or infanticidal thoughts with severe and abrupt change in behavior.