Postpartum depression is Real;
Are You at Risk?

Are you and your baby at risk from postpartum depression?
Baby Blues is the first of three stages of post partum depression.

Postpartum depression happens to women of every age and economic background.

Postpartum depression syndrome is no respecter of age, class or race; any woman can be affected.

Anyone can get the "new baby blues" but once this lasts for over two to three weeks, help should be sought. The second is full-blown postpartum depression and the third and most serious is called post partum psychosis.

After the birth of a baby, women face many changes in their lives whether or not they are a first time mother or not.

Changing body images, stress of taking care of a newborn, finding time for yourself and your spouse calls for major changes in your life.

Risk factors:

• An unwanted pregnancy
• You had pregnancy depression
• Your pregnancy was stressful
• You had a loss of a close family member during the pregnancy

Signs of post partum depression include:

• abnormal worry about the baby
• fear that you will hurt the baby
• lack of interest in your child or children
• insomnia

Like other types of depression, a woman suffering from postpartum depression is moody, weepy, and experiences a loss of interest in hobbies and other activities she previously enjoyed.

Treatment and prevention

Once you've been diagnosed as having post partum depression, it is important to follow your doctor's orders.

If he prescribed depression medication do not fear taking it, just let him know that you are breastfeeding (if you are), since some medication should not be taken if nursing.

If left untreated postpartum depression can lead a mother experiencing a psychotic depression episode to harm her child (children).

Keep informed and know that suffering postpartum depression does not mean that you are a bad mother. Having a baby is a stressful time and takes getting used to.

Back from Postpartum Depression
to Depression Help Treatment

Dealing with Depression Advice

Avoid negative thinking

C.J. Green's book "Conquering Stress" discusses how we can only have one thought at once, even though for the most part they come in rapid succession.

Since we can only hold on thought at once, we need to practice allowing those thoughts to be positive.

Worry and despair are like sugared candy to depression, it feeds off of it.

Learning how to think positively in unhappy situations will become automatic eventually, but it does take practice.

Eventually, you will be seeing the gift in everything instead of the dark clouds of depression. This is also the basic difference between being a happy person or a cynical one.