Life changes dramatically with the advent of a new child. While it is understandable that stress levels may be high and negative emotions common during the adjustment to being on call 24 hours a day, new mothers typically hide these feelings from friends and family members. They mistakenly believe that grateful, loving thoughts and emotions are the only appropriate ones to admit to when dealing with the challenges of new motherhood.

The internal belief that other people will perceive them as “bad” keeps too many mothers silent. They may choose to suffer quietly rather than risking strong judgements from friends and family or even having their babies taken away. Having a guideline to show what is normal and what isn’t can make all the difference in getting help to new mothers in difficult situations.

Mood swings, irritability, fatigue, persistent tearfulness, forgetfulness and anxiety are common symptoms in new mothers. The vast majority of birth mothers cope with some version of the “baby blues.” The good news is that these symptoms generally pass without any intervention within a couple of weeks. The postpartum mother’s’ body simply needs a little time to normalize the tremendous fluctuations in hormone levels after giving birth.

Unfortunately, the symptoms of “baby blues” don’t always pass on their own. They may last longer and be more severe, including stronger mood swings, lack of interest in the baby or self, lowered daily functioning, hopelessness, depression, feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability. It is estimated that anywhere from 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 postpartum women experience these symptoms of postpartum depression. Women with PPD may feel a little crazy, but they are still sane.

What if the level of intensity is ramped up? What if a new mom has unreasonable fears, panic attacks, obsessions about cleanliness and germs, or visions of something bad happening to the baby and not being able to do anything about it? This may indicate postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder, a bit more severe than postpartum depression, but still in the postpartum mood disorder continuum, and still sane.

What about the women who get sensationalized on the news, the ones who think their babies are from the devil? We’ve all heard stories about new mothers who think they were told to hurt themselves or their babies. Can these women be sane?

These moms suffer from postpartum psychosis, at the severe end of the postpartum mood disorder continuum. And yes, if we have to draw the line somewhere, this is it. Fortunately, postpartum psychosis is rare. Just one or two of every thousand women deal with this disorder. They experience visual or auditory hallucinations and delusions that are extremely dangerous. For safety’s sake, these are the women in need of immediate medical attention and hospitalization. Their babies must be cared for by someone else, at least for a while.

Here is a good rule of thumb: If a new mother is concerned about her well being and the well being of her child, if she is worried about the thoughts and emotions she experiences, she is still sane. Let’s take away the stigma of postpartum mood disorders and encourage new moms to be honest. All the symptoms described here are 100% treatable and help is available.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 at 4:24 am and is filed under Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.