Researchers found that women who were socially isolated, had struggled to become pregnant or were embarrassed to ask for help were among those most vulnerable. This suggests that improving the questions on a midwife booking form could help better target those who may need support after giving birth.
Postnatal depression can even affect women that have adopted children so it can be part of the readjustment to parenthood, psychotherapist Kate Tilbury, from PsychologyOnline says:
“It is a big life change to go from an independent person to providing 24/7 care for someone who is totally dependent on you, however much wanted and loved that baby is.
“Women often have high expectations of themselves as mothers and can feel judged by those around them. If you don’t have supportive family prepared to help and are unable to notice in yourself that you may need help - which may in turn prevents you from reaching out to others - then this combination of factors can make you vulnerable to PND."
The survey asked women about their personal circumstances (support network) and their attitudes to talking about their feelings and used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to provide a widely recognised indicator of the severity of depression.
Health professionals are given very little training in PND, Jo Morton was an experienced midwife when she had her first child, but she didn’t at first recognise that she had PND herself.
“Training to be a midwife you cover baby-blues briefly but you don’t want to scare women by dwelling on it, so I was unprepared for the severity of it.
“I was in denial at first, I had good days and bad and put it down to being tired or being a new mum, but it really hit me at 5 months and then there was no escape. I did get unhelpful comments like ‘what have you got to be sad about', 'pull yourself together’ but when people realised how ill I was they became more supportive.”
Jo eventually recovered after private therapy and, realising how little support is available to mothers, set up a PND support-group called House of Light.
She says; “Women that come to us report physical symptoms, pounding headaches, chest pain, feelings of being numb or overwhelmed, feelings that if they can escape everything will be better and this can lead to suicidal tendencies. Many women are worried their children will be taken away if they admit to how bad they feel.”
Kate continues:“Many women (and their babies) are suffering needlessly from postnatal depression as the symptoms are not widely recognised and this can delay access to the effective treatment that is currently available to those in need.
“Often mothers only require a few of sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy to feel significantly better, so identifying those at risk at an earlier stage could help thousands of mothers gain greater pleasure from their babies in those first precious months.”
Both women agree that men can also feel overwhelmed by the new responsibility and suffer from PND, and that partners often feel they “can’t do anything right” and don’t know how best to provide the support needed.
Kate continues: “Having a baby has an impact on a couple, it requires readjustment of roles. Having external, objective support from a therapist can help to show that difficulties making the transition are normal and to be expected.”
Self help tips
However much you may have prepared and planned for this baby, no one can quite prepare you for what life will be like, keep an eye out for any unhelpful or unrealistic expectations of yourself or others.
Here are some of the self help tips mentioned by participants in the webinar that PsychologyOnline hosted to discuss the research:
- Feeling low after having a baby is normal, it is helpful to try and remember this
- Talk to someone – family, friends or professionals can all help in different ways.
- Talk to other mothers about their feelings and experiences and be honest about your own – you will find other mothers who feel/felt very similarly.
- Taking a bit of time for yourself is important, so you remember that you are not just a mother
- Don’t feel the need to pretend that you are doing well – allow yourself to acknowledge whatever feelings you have and try and invite others to show their support
- The sooner you ask for help, the sooner you will recover, so always ask if you find yourself with any symptoms.
- You will not be judged on your ability as a mother – postnatal depression is common.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy can be very beneficial for PND and online therapy is confidential, accessible and does not require you to leave the house for appointments.
- You use instant messaging to receive your therapy and appointments can be taken from home at anytime which is particularly beneficial for those with a small baby.
PsychologyOnline is increasingly available free to NHS patients and if you have a GP in Camden or West Kent you can self refer for treatment.
Where online therapy is not available on the NHS online therapy is available without GP referral through Thinkwell (www.thinkwell.co.uk) where people can purchase sessions directly.
If you would like to find out more about PND PsychologyOnline has prepared a presentation on YouTube http://bit.ly/1sFhuw5
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