Ideas: Postpartum Depression

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 in Ideas, Stories

Lara Mattson Radle, Families First Parent Educator

Postpartum depression is the most common complication from childbirth, occurring in up to 20% of mothers. You would think I would have known this, as I was a semester away from graduating with a Master’s degree in counseling and had spent the last year and a half doing therapy with moms and their new babies. But it was the last thing on my mind as my own belly swelled and my mind entertained thoughts of the sweet babe I would soon be holding in my arms.

That all changed after my baby was born and I experienced weeks without sleep, problems breastfeeding, inconsolable crying (I don’t know who cried more, me or my son!) and feelings of complete incompetency, all while recovering from significant blood loss due to a hemorrhage that occurred during the birth.

While there are factors that increase a woman’s risk, any mother can experience postpartum depression, even if she herself did not give birth to her child.

Symptoms of postpartum depression include:

Strong feelings of sadness, doubt, inadequacy, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness, anger or despair that cause a mother to have difficulty in coping with her daily tasks and/or care for herself or her baby
A change in eating habits (either eating too much or too little)
Trouble sleeping (wanting to sleep all the time or an inability to sleep)
A lack of pleasure in life
Low to no energy
Excessive worry about the baby or even a fear of harming the baby
A powerful desire to run away or that her baby is better off without her

With time and lots of support I recovered from my episode of postpartum depression, but it is difficult if not impossible to do in isolation. If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these symptoms, please encourage them to get help.

Lara Mattson Radle, a mother of two and local therapist, is a Parent Educator for Families First, as well a Birth and Postpartum Doula and the MT Coordinator for Postpartum Support International. She is facilitator of the New Mom’s Support Group which takes place at the Missoula Public Library on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month. Please feel free to drop in. It is free of charge and babies are welcome!