Postpartum Depression Facts: How to Recognize and Ease Postpartum Blues and Depression

New mothers often experience conflicting feelings of emotional joy and disappointment during the first few weeks after birth. This is often called the baby blues or “baby blues.” You may feel depressed, but you generally find pleasure in life. These feelings are normal and temporary.

The transition to motherhood brings many hormonal changes, changes in body image, and changes in intrapsychic reorganization. Fluctuating hormones in pregnancy and the postpartum period, the four-week period following childbirth, have an effect on mood, causing an early euphoria in labor that may be followed by mild depression with tears in the eyes, irritability and fatigue. These feelings peak on the fifth day postpartum. Most women recover and adjust to these postpartum changes within a few days.

However, physiological factors that affect mood can interact with minor anxieties and tensions to result in clinical depression. Postpartum depression (PPD) is recognized by a persistent low mood and the mother’s lack of interest in bonding with the baby. Beyond 5 days, persistence is not expected and should be reported to a healthcare provider immediately. Additional care of the baby by a nanny may also be recommended, as this allows the mother to relieve physical and mental fatigue.

Typical postpartum change/recovery is described in three phases:

Phase 1 – Reception –
The mother is passive and willing to let others take care of her. The conversation centers on her birth experience. The mother has a keen interest in her baby, but she has little interest in learning about child care, as her primary focus is on recovery from birth and her need for food, fluids, and deep restful sleep. She is willing to let others take care of the child.

Phase 2 – Taking control –
The mother begins to initiate action and becomes more interested in caring for her baby. She becomes critical of her “acting her”. She has increased her concern for her bodily functions and takes responsibility for her personal care needs. This phase is ideal for teaching infant care by an infant nurse.

Phase 3-Let go-:
Mothers, and often fathers, struggle to give up their previous lifestyle and family arrangements to accommodate the new baby. Many mothers must give up their ideal birth experience and reconcile it with what actually happened.

The postpartum evaluation usually includes a physical evaluation and a psychological bond evaluation, but should also include an evaluation of fatigue. Because today’s lifestyle often sees a woman work for most of her pregnancy, stay after delivery with responsibility for newborn care, and then return home in 48 hours or less to accept all responsibilities of the home, many women do not have the opportunity to rest and adapted in the postpartum phase.

Health care providers can decrease the level of maternal fatigue by recommending and initiating appropriate relief measures, such as taking over the newborn’s care for a few hours or scheduling nursing care for the baby that allows for rest periods. Allowing the mother to rest properly helps in her proper recovery.

In some cases, medication is necessary to help mothers with postpartum depression. However, postpartum support can be received through social service agencies, public health nurses, parenting courses, and group discussions. These social pathways show mothers that they are not alone and help them with personal support as well as bonding with the baby.

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