Some 80% of women experience some mood disturbances after pregnancy. They feel upset, alone, afraid, or unloving toward their baby and, they feel guilty for having these feelings.
For most women, the symptoms are mild and go away on their own during the months after delivery. But 10 to 20% of these women develop a more disabling form of mood disorder called postpartum depression. Some have these symptoms for months or even years.
It’s good to know and recognize the differences between the pretty innocent baby blues, the more serious postpartum depression and the postpartum psychosis.
Baby Blues
- The baby blues is a state of intensified emotions that about half of women experience in the first days and weeks after the birth of their baby.
- With breast milk, especially colostrums, your baby’s immunity is strengthened. This means excellent protection against infections like diarrhea, colds, bronchitis and pneumonia.
- This state is reached 3 to 5 days after delivery and lasts from several days to 2 weeks.
- A woman with the blues may cry more often than usual and may have trouble sleeping or feel irritable, sad and on edge.
- Because baby blues are so common and expected, they are not considered an illness.
- Postpartum blues does not interfere with a woman’s ability to care for her baby.
- The tendency to develop postpartum blues is unrelated to a previous mental illness and is not caused by stress. However, stress and a history of depression may influence whether the blues go on to become major depression.
Postpartum depression
- Postpartum depression is depression that occurs soon after having a baby, usually within a few months.
- This condition occurs in about 10 to 20% of women.
- Risk factors include previous major depression, psychosocial stress, inadequate social support, and previous premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
- Symptoms are crying often, inability to enjoy, trouble sleeping, fatigue, appetite problems, suicidal thoughts, feelings of inadequacy as a parent and impaired concentration.
- If you experience postpartum depression, you may worry about the baby’s health and well-being. You may have negative thoughts about the baby and fears about harming the infant.
- Postpartum depression interferes with a woman’s ability to care for her baby.
- When a woman with severe postpartum depression becomes suicidal, she may consider killing her infant and young children. Not from anger, but from a desire not to abandon them.
Postpartum psychosis
- Postpartum (puerperal) psychosis is the most serious postpartum disorder. It requires immediate treatment.
- This condition is very rare.
- A woman with this condition experiences psychotic symptoms within 3 weeks of giving birth.
- This condition is associated with mood disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, or psychosis.
- Symptoms include false beliefs, hallucinations, or both and the inability to sleep, agitation and mood swings.
- A woman experiencing psychosis can seem fine temporarily, fooling caregivers into thinking that she has recovered, but she can continue to be severely depressed and ill even after periods of seeming well.
- Women who harbor thoughts of hurting their infants are more likely to act on them if they have postpartum psychosis.
- If untreated, postpartum psychotic depression has a high likelihood of coming back after the postpartum period and also after the birth of other children.
