You Are Not Alone: Understanding Postpartum Depression and Baby Blue
The journey to motherhood should be nothing but a blissful one. However, this excitement can be overshadowed by feelings of sadness, emotional fragility, and mood swings. Across the globe, new moms experience feelings of emotional highs and lows soon after giving birth, and we refer to this as the “baby blues”. It is distinctly different from Postpartum Depression, which is generally more intense and lasts longer.
Transitioning from pregnancy to parenthood is a major life adjustment and it’s normal to feel the baby blues for a short while. So if you’re in your journey to motherhood and you’re feeling these baffling emotions, we want you to remember two important things:
You are not alone in this journey & You’ll get through this stronger and wiser.
A CLOSER LOOK AT BABY BLUES & POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION
Baby blues are a common and temporary psychological state, wherein new mothers experience sudden mood swings. You may feel happy for a minute and sad or overwhelmed the next. You may also find yourself feeling strong and uncontrollable emotions like anger, irritability, and helplessness, among others. These mood swings are caused by hormonal changes that happen after childbirth. Levels of two hormones-Estrogen and Progesterone, suddenly drop, causing these shifts in mood. Other factors like feeling tired or not getting enough sleep can also add to these feelings.
Fortunately, baby blues typically last for a few days or weeks and generally stop without medical treatment. But if you’re having symptoms that don’t disappear and last for a few weeks, or get worse with time, you may be experiencing Postpartum Depression.
So, how can you discern if you are experiencing Baby Blues or Postpartum Depression?
What Baby Blues look like:
- You experience mood swings. For a second you feel proud of the job you’re doing as a mom, but feel like you’re not up for the task after.
- You feel anxious, sad, and overwhelmed
- You experience restlessness, impatience, and feelings of disappointment
- You lose appetite because of exhaustion
- You have crying spells (crying about nothing at all or about small and trivial things that normally doesn’t bother you)
- You experience trouble sleeping
These feelings generally begin when the baby is about 2 or 3 days old. You’d likely feel better by the time your child is 1 or 2 weeks old.
What Postpartum Depression (PPD) looks like:
In contrast, the symptoms of Postpartum Depression are more severe than baby blues. Some women may experience a few, while others may exhibit several symptoms. Some of these symptoms are:
- Persistent sadness, hopelessness, and feeling “empty”
- Feeling overly anxious, restless, and unable to keep still
- Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, guilt, and helplessness
- Inability to concentrate, feeling confused, or having difficulty remembering details
- Changes in appetite
- Loss of interest in hobbies and activities you used to enjoy
- Feelings of resentment and extreme mood swings
- Uncontrolled crying
- Body aches or pain, digestive problems, and cramps that have no clear physical cause or do not alleviate even with treatment
- Over-attentiveness or lack of interest in newborn
- Feelings of isolation and withdrawal from others
- Difficulty in bonding or forming an emotional attachment with your baby
- Persistent doubts about your ability to take care of your baby
- Persistent thoughts about suicide or harming of oneself or others
Due to the range and severity of symptoms, only a healthcare provider can diagnose and rule out Postpartum Depression, and unlike the baby blues, PPD is a more critical and serious problem that you shouldn’t ignore.
* Aside from the symptoms, the main difference between baby blues and Postpartum Depression also lies in the timeline of each. For Baby blues, its symptoms occur a few hours a day but disappear within fourteen days after delivery. Postpartum Depression occurs in a period of four weeks to several months after childbirth, and it can last up to a year.
COPING WITH BABY BLUES AND POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION
Having awareness and understanding of what you’re feeling as a new mom can make a difference in how you cope with the changes you’re undergoing. Knowing the difference between the baby blues and postpartum depression can also guide you as you journey into motherhood. To help you further in your venture, Here are some tips that can help you prevent, lessen, or cope with the Baby Blues and Postpartum Depression:
LEARN MORE ON COPING WITH BABY BLUES AND POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION
TAKEAWAY:
Learn to be gentle with yourself. You need to cry. You need to ask for help. You need to let go of all your expectations. You need to breathe.
Know that all of these emotions you’re feeling at this very moment, do not make you weak, nor make you less of a mother; they make you human.
Every child deserves a healthy, happy, and loving mom, and all mothers deserve to enjoy life with their children. Although being a first-time mom can often feel isolating, lonely, frightening, and distressing. It’s also an opportunity that’ll open your eyes to all the love that surrounds you and your precious one.
You are not alone. Tell someone how you feel, seek and cherish the support you need. Do it for your baby and do it for yourself. YOU ARE LOVED.
