In Others' WordsIn Others' Words

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

A Few Stats on Postpartum Depression

According to recent medical reports:

  • Seven out of ten postpartum women will experience "the Blues."
  • Another one or two of these women will suffer from postpartum depression.
  • And another .01 percent will battle postpartum psychosis.

If you get together with nine of your friends--that makes ten altogether, right?--seven of you will experience "the Blues."

One or two of those seven will struggle with postpartum depression.

Stating the obvious:

Having a baby puts a "bullseye" on you facing emotional upheaval--insomnia, irritability, depression.

You're probably thinking: Tell me something I don't already know. It's all part of having a baby.

My question? Is postpartum depression getting talked about more in the media--radio, television, magazines, newspapers--than it is being talked about within our personal lives?

I don't know. You tell me.

To be continued . . .

1 Comments:

At 1:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Our mobile society leaves new moms without a support group of older women to "mother" them while they learn to take care of a baby.
We need to reach out more and offer support to new moms. For example, a young woman I know had her third child five months ago. As an experienced mom, she sounded as if she could nurse a baby, make a snack for a toddler, and read to her preschooler--all at the same time. But her oldest child is only four. I noticed she dropped all her extra baby weight, and more, exremely fast. Lucky her, right?
Maybe not. A big weight gain or loss is also a sign of postpartum depression. I asked if she might be depressed, and she admitted that she had been, but she was getting over it.
I wish I had spotted her depression sooner and had been in a position to help. Maybe, sometime in the future, I'll spot postpartum depression sooner.

 

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