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Dear Childbirth Educator:
My sister had her first baby earlier this year and was so looking forward to his arrival. She had what her doctor said was a great labor (18 hours, an epidural, pushed for a little less than 2 hours,) and came home after staying in the hospital one night after delivery. Everything seemed to be going well with breast feeding, although she did have someone come to the house to help her. Her husband was a tremendous help and my parents, and I took turns helping as well.
On about day 8 everything changed. All she did was lay in bed. She wouldn’t eat. She only held the baby at feeding times. She didn’t shower or change her clothes and wanted no company. The entire family became worried and her husband decided to call her doctor, who recommended a therapist who specialized in post partum depression. My mom and I took turns sleeping at their house to help out and after several weeks of therapy and medication (which the therapist assured her was safe while breast feeding). Things started to get better. But this was all so frightening. I have never seen my sister like this before, and no one in my family has had any history of depression.
I am extremely anxious because I am now pregnant and fearful of the same thing happening to me. Is post partum depression hereditary? Is there anything I can to to prevent it from happening to me?
Julia Bunch
St Louis, MO
Dear Julia:
Take a deep breath and enjoy the remainder of your pregnancy. Only about 12-15% of women develop true post partum depression (PPD) after the birth of their baby, and the rest use the term as an “umbrella” that includes the adjustment to parenting with depression, which is much more common (1 in 3).
The greatest cause of true PPD is chronic sleep deprivation, which just about every new mom experiences. Hormones play a big role, as the estrogen and progesterone receptors in the brain interact with serotonin and after birth these hormone levels decrease, which may trigger depression. Unfortunately for you, genetics do play a role, so you are at a slightly higher risk for PPD because of your sisters’ experience.
Now, that does not mean you should spend the rest of your pregnancy dwelling on the “what ifs”! Look at ways you can decrease the chances. You have the support of your family, and that’s terrific. You know the signs to look for and that is probably most important. You already know of a therapist, and it might be helpful to see her a few times while still pregnant for some helpful hints, and plan on seeing her after the baby is born.
If you are still working, that should help to keep your mind off labor and the post partum period. If you are not working, find some wonderful novels to distract you from all those labor and parenting books and magazines. Spend evenings with your husband and friends at dinner and the movies and make a promise not to talk about labor or parenting.
Minor baby blues happen to about 80% of all new mothers and often correspond to the arrival of the transitional milk (day 3-7.) Feed the baby, then pass her off to daddy or another willing relative and go take a nap and I can almost guarantee you will feel better when you awake, even if you only sleep for 20 minutes. Make sure you are eating and drinking adequately. You want to lose your baby weight and maintain you milk supply. This will make you feel good about yourself and help those baby blues to disappear as well.
I hope you find this helpful.
Good luck,
Leslye
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