Do I have postpartum depression?

Most new mothers wonder if they are experiencing baby blues or true postpartum depression. How can you be sure?

Statistics are showing that as many as 80% of new mothers have some degree of postpartum depression. (PPD). The new term is "postpartum mood disorders" since postpartum symptoms can range from the very mild and temporary baby blues to major depression and even the most rare form, psychoses.

Baby blues is likely caused by hormones and occurs from day 3 to 2 weeks postpartum. Mild mood swings are typical. I can remember crying on the phone one afternoon at about 6 days postpartum when my husband told me he had to work 3 hours later than we expected. That was not a typical behavior for me! Baby blues resolves almost completely by 2-3 weeks postpartum.

PPD, on the other hand has similiar symptoms but can last weeks or even months longer than baby blues if not treated. For more information, see the article on Symptoms and take the Self Test for PPD. There are likely multiple causes of PPD.

It's hard to believe that women have been giving birth for thousands of years and yet we are only just beginning to touch the surface of what PPD is all about. One wonders if we are seeing more PPD today than compared to our grandmothers' generation. Or is it simply that we know to look for PPD now, whereas then it was simply not discussed?

I have noticed some very interesting things about PPD in my work with expectant and new mothers. PPD is sneaky - only a handful of women could "see it coming" so to speak or knew the risk factors. Most of them had mild to moderate symptoms in the first few weeks that they thought were simply due to life adjustments when in fact, it was PPD all along and the symptoms worsened over time. Many found that anti-depressants helped, but were worried that they would affect breastfeeding. Almost all of the mothers who had PPD also had very high-need babies or twins or had additional pressures on them; for example returning to work early or a husband who returned to work immediately.

One of the main reasons why I thought to write a series on PPD is that mothers still seem to know so little about it and very few of their providers talked to them about PPD ahead of time. Medication was the only form of treatment recommended.

Be watching as my series on PPD is published . If you think you might have it, see your provider asap! Please share the information with a friend or someone you know who is having a difficult time in postpartum. The sooner every mother knows about PPD, the happier mother, father and baby will be!

Warmly,

Brenda