Post Natal Depression affects 1 in 10 women globally, and is a mental health condition often riddled with stigma and misconceptions. This article explains what Post Natal Depression is, how to recognise symptoms, the causes and contributing factors of Post Natal Depression, as well as briefly exploring some of the treatments available.

More Than The Baby Blues: Post Natal Depression

More than 80% of new mothers will experience the Baby Blues, somewhere between the third and fifth day after giving birth. With a little bit of understanding and support, these baby blues usually pass within a few days. Symptoms that a mother is experiencing the Baby Blues include irritability, swinging low/ high moods, anxiety, crying and general emotional distress.

Post Natal Depression has a great amount of stigma attached to it, and man misconceptions surrounding it. Suffering can range from mild, to moderate, or severe. Many women are uneducated about the illness and as such it goes untreated for quite some time.

There are a number of factors that are thought to contribute to the likelihood of a woman getting Post natal Depression, but no single,one identifiable cause. It can affect women of all cultures, all ages, and can follow on from a miscarriage, stillbirth, normal vaginal delivery or caesarean alike. Post Natal Depression can occur after a woman has her first baby, it may only happen after a woman has her third, or fifth child, or even still, it may happen after each of a woman´s children´s births. The odds of getting Post Natal Depression are against you if you have already suffered from it with a previous child, as 50% of women who experience Post Natal Depression with one child will experience it with following children.

There are a number of symptoms that can be used to identify and diagnose Post Natal Depression. Depending on the severity of the illness in each individual, some or all of these may present themselves, some more dramatically than others:

• Sleep Disturbance (such as insomnia- difficulty getting to sleep, constantly waking during the night, or sleeping excessive amounts) not in conjunction with the new baby´s sleep patterns.
• Appetite Disturbance (not feeling hungry, refusal to eat, eating excessively)
• Crying, or feeling the need to cry without actually being able to cry
• Feeling unable to cope with everyday life, or feeling overwhelmed
• Irritability
• Aggressiveness, or trying to blame everyone/ anyone else for everything going wrong- particularly the way the Post Natal Depression sufferer is feeling
• Negative or morbid thoughts, even to the point of feeling suicidal, or wanting to harm oneself or someone else (including the baby)
• Fear of being alone, or fear of being with other people
• Loss of concentration/ the ability to focus, and difficulty with memory
• Feelings of guilt, and feelings of inadequacy
• Loss of confidence, and self esteem, feeling as though the woman has “lost herself”
• Feeling as though there is no happiness in anything

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