It’s an undeniable fact that every woman goes through fear, depression, and stress during their first pregnancy. Most importantly, women have more responsibility after their delivery, they need to take care of their baby sacrificing their sleep, rest, and food. Sacrificing certain things for their baby is also a reason for their depression. It is a hard fact that most of us fail to notice the depression women goes through after their first delivery. This depression can lead to lots of problems in their lives.
As far as women are concerned, they go through a massive change in their mental state right after their childbirth. They become victims of several emotions because they realize they need to protect another life, and they do not have the same freedom they had before. As a matter of fact, depression in women right after their childbirth is a natural thing. They feel restless, and get angry without any reason. However, this will disappear after a couple of days.
On the contrary, in some women, this can develop into “Postpartum Psychosis” a mental disorder. Though it is a rare occurrence, it is extremely dangerous. Only one in a thousand women have it.
What are the Changes?
This excessive depression can happen within two weeks post delivery. It can last for up to 2 to 12 weeks. Curing it completely can take up to 6 months.
Victims of postpartum psychosis undergo constant mood swings.
They fail to take regular foods.
Fail to have a proper night’s sleep.
Feeling fearful for their baby, and want to protect it from others and themselves.
This feeling will make them restless and confused. Sometimes they might even have suicidal thoughts.
Reasons for Postpartum Psychosis
Though there are many reasons for this, chances for postpartum psychosis increases by 25 to 50% if they have any pre-existing mental condition before pregnancy. That being the case, Doctors will usually change the medicines for mental disorder after pregnancy, changes in medicine can also lead to this problem.
Many women will have a lot of expectations on babies that are yet to be born. Some may wish for a boy, others wish for a girl, they might want their babies to look like their Dad and much more. When things start to go against their expectations, they might experience a sort of depression and stress. Even this could lead to postpartum psychosis.
Apart from all the above-mentioned reasons, one of the vital reasons could be the family situation. Some husbands might be abusive. They might have a poor financial backup to afford a baby. Reasons like this can trigger anxiety and stress.
Changes in serotonin, a neurotransmitter, could also lead to mental disorders.
How to Prevent?
Women from large families are rarely affected by this disease. But modern lifestyle demands nuclear families. Most of us live in apartments with our only partner. Most probably both of them will get to work every day. Women from these environments have high probabilities for depression. Women need more care and love during their pregnancy period. This is easily available to them in families with more members. But on the other hand, women from nuclear families might be deprived of this love and care due to various reasons. They might need regular counseling sessions with their psychiatrist.
Most women start to feel some sort of stress as soon as their pregnancy is confirmed.
So it’s essential to take proper care of them right from that time period and make them feel more comfortable and happy about it.
Pregnancy will trigger several hormonal changes. Their motherly instincts will make them get emotional from time to time. They start to adapt to various changes in their food and sleeping habits right from the day they are confirmed of their pregnancy. Various medical tests, Doctor fees, and sudden increase in financial burden can make them stressful. But not just that, as the delivery date gets close, they start to develop the fear for many other things. When this fear gets beyond a certain level, it can even trigger suicidal feelings. To prevent this, husband and other family members should keep them happy and at peace. They need to keep assuring them with positive thoughts and feelings. If needed, they could be given regular counseling session from a psychiatrist. When everyone around the women works together to make them feel optimistic and comfortable about their pregnancy, it will greatly help to prevent unwanted depression. Also make sure to save some amount for delivery, and other medical expenses from the time the pregnancy is confirmed. This will help to reduce the financial and mental burden on women.
