09-Thu-Jan-2025
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Author :
Dr. Qurat ul Ain
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BUMS
Q. What is postpartum depression?
A. Many women experience postpartum depression, or PPD, as a medical disorder following childbirth. After giving delivery, there are persistent, intense sensations of despair, stress, and exhaustion. You may find it difficult to care for both yourself and your child as a result of these emotions. PPD can occur at any point following childbirth. Usually, it begins one to three weeks after giving birth. For it to improve, therapy is required. PPD is a kind of perinatal depression. This is a depression that happens during pregnancy or in the first year after giving birth.
Q. Is PPD the same as the baby blues?
A. No. PPD lasts longer and is more serious than baby blues. Baby blues are feelings of sadness you may have after having a baby. Baby blues can happen 2 to 35 days after you give birth and can last up to 2 weeks. You may have trouble sleeping, be moody or cranky, and cry a lot. If you have sad feelings that last longer than 2 weeks, you may have PPD.
Q. What are the signs and symptoms of PPD?
A. Changes in your feelings:
• Feeling depressed most of the day every day
• Feeling shame, guilt, or like a failure
• Feeling panicked or scared a lot of the time
• Having severe mood swings
Changes in your everyday life:
• Having little interest in things you normally like to do
• Feeling tired all the time
• Eating a lot more or a lot less than is normal for you
• Gaining or losing weight
• Having trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
• Having trouble concentrating or making decisions
Changes in how you think about yourself or your baby:
• Having trouble bonding with your baby
• Thinking about hurting yourself or your baby
• Thinking about suicide (killing yourself)
Q. Can PPD affect your baby?
A. Yes. PPD can make it hard for you to care for yourself and your baby. This is why it’s important to treat PPD as soon as possible.
Q. What causes PPD?
A. It can happen to any woman after having a baby. Possible causes include:
• Genes. Genes are parts of your body’s cells that store instructions for the way your body grows and works. Genes are passed from parents to children. Depression is more common in people whose family members have depression. This is called a family history of depression.
• Changing hormone levels after pregnancy. Hormones are chemicals in your body. Some help control your emotions and mood. During pregnancy, your body has higher levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. But in the first 24 hours after giving birth, these hormones quickly go back to their normal levels. This rapid drop in hormone levels may lead to PPD.
• Low levels of thyroid hormones. The thyroid is a gland in your neck that helps your body use and store energy from food.
Q. Are you at risk for PPD?
A. Some things make you more likely than others to have PPD. These are called risk factors. Having a risk factor doesn’t mean for sure that you’ll have depression. But it may increase your chances.
Risk factors for PPD include:
• depression during pregnancy, or you’ve had major depression or another mental health condition in the past.
• You’ve been physically or sexually abused.
• You have stress in your life,
• You have diabetes.
• You have complications during pregnancy, like preterm birth, being pregnant with multiples, birth defects and pregnancy loss.
• You smoke, drink alcohol, or use harmful drugs.
• You have trouble breastfeeding or caring for your baby.
Q. Can PPD be prevented?
A. Certain kinds of counseling (also called therapy) can prevent perinatal depression (including PPD) for women at increased risk of depression.
Counseling is recommended for women with one or more of these risk factors:
• 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
Two kinds of counseling are recommended to prevent PPD for women at increased risk:
1. Cognitive behavioral therapy (also called CBT). CBT helps you manage negative thoughts by changing the way you think and act. Common kinds of CBT include working with a therapist to help you set goals and identify negative thoughts and behaviors so you can begin to think and act differently.
2. Interpersonal therapy (also called IPT). IPT helps you identify and deal with conditions and problems in your personal life, like relationships with your partner and family, situations at work or in your neighborhood, having a medical condition, or losing a loved one. Common kinds of IPT include working with a therapist in role-playing, answering open-ended questions (not yes or no questions), and looking closely at how you make decisions and communicate with others.
Q. How is PPD treated?
A. Treatment can include:
• Counselling, like CBT and IPT
• Support groups. These are groups of people who meet together or go online to share their feelings and experiences about certain topics.
• Medicine. PPD often is treated with medicine.
Medicines to treat PPD include:
• Antidepressants
• Oestrogen.
Q. If you have PPD, what can you do to help you feel better?
A. Stay healthy and fit.
• Do something active every day.
• Eat healthy foods.
• Get as much rest as you can.
• Don’t drink alcohol.
Ask for and accept help.
• Keep in touch with people you care about and who care about you.
• Take time for yourself.
• Let others help around the house.
Reduce your stress.
• Do the things you liked to do before you had your baby.
• Try not to make any major changes in your life right after having your baby.
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