Sadness, guilt, appetite disturbance, feeling unable to care for the baby, sleep disturbance ... These and other symptoms may appear when we are faced with postpartum depression. With attention, effort and help it is possible to overcome it, but for some women the story doesn't have a happy ending: is the most devastating face of postpartum depression, that nobody, ever, would like to see.
In Spain it is considered that between 10% and 15% of women suffer from postpartum depression (although there are studies that indicate that the rate could reach 20% or 25%). According to the study conducted by Suavinex this 2017 in this regard, only 17% of these women request or receive help.
As I said, with effort, help (professional) and support (family and couple) it is possible to cope. However, there are times when depression reaches one more point, a dramatic level that can have devastating consequences.
Joe bingley
Joe worked as a nurse forever. Chris (her partner) and she had tried to have children without success, with several perinatal losses along the way. After four years they finally got it: Joe was pregnant.
His daughter was born without problems, to the joy of his parents. But little by little things got complicated for Joe, his mood was getting worse, to such an extent that ten weeks after the birth of the girl Joe left home, he placed himself before the train tracks and ended his life.
What happened to Joe?
Precisely to answer this question and to prevent other women, other families from going through what he went through, Chris, Joe's husband, He created a foundation in the United States about postpartum depression. Since she is dedicated to disseminating information about it, to offer information for mothers who are going through this and their families, she gives talks for her country ... Postpartum depression changed her life.
On the website of the Chris foundation chronologically, the events. It's hard, I warn you. The surprising thing about this case is that despite having requested professional help, American mental health services ruled out that Joe's condition was serious.
This is, perhaps, the greatest legacy that Joe has been able to leave, that for which her husband fights: the vital importance that we have to give to postpartum depression, the absolute need for women who go through it to be supported, understood and understood. helped. It's terrible.
Joe's case is not the only one. Allison Goldstein, Florence Leung, Jenny Grahams (who, in addition to her life, ended that of her baby) or Alexsis Joy D'Achille (whose partner has also created a foundation to provide coverage and visibility to postpartum depression) are sad, very sad, examples of the absolute importance of attending to women with postpartum depression giving it the relevance that it truly has.
Why does this happen?
There are studies that indicate that there are certain risk factors, variables that complicate the postpartum depression picture by taking it one step further and leading to suicidal ideations. They seem to include: having suffered childhood abuse, having had (before or during pregnancy) a major depression, alcohol consumption and substance abuse, having or having had anxiety disorders or a bipolar disorder.
According to a study published in the BJOG (International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology) in the cases of women who ended their lives within the first six months after giving birth, the main diagnoses were severe depression (21%), substance abuse (31%) and psychosis (38%).
What are the alarm signals to which we must attend?
We have already talked several times about the symptoms present in postpartum depression. The appearance of these symptoms as well as the subjective perception of the woman that something is not going well or that the couple or family detects the discomfort, must be sufficient to consider the possibility of going to a professional to help us. We don't lose anything and we can earn a lot.
If in addition to these symptoms we are faced with suicidal ideations, be they thoughts, verbalizations of them or explicit manifestations of the desire to "end everything", we must act immediately.
On the other hand, the despair manifested by the mother, the no "See him no way out", can also serve as indicators.
What should we do? The answer is clear: immediately, upon suspicion, go to a professional, either our family doctor, the midwife or a mental health professional and tell you about our case. Let's not let time pass, it doesn't help at all.
To highlight the importance of addressing postpartum depression should not be necessary to talk about these extreme cases, the discomfort and the impact that it has on both the mother and the baby must be sufficient for everyone (mothers, couples, family, healthcare professionals) we are aware that You have to react to the signals.
In any case, and as always when I talk about this topic I say, if you feel bad, if you notice that something is not going well, if you think you need help, do not hesitate and go to a professional to advise you. And just one more thing, a message that all the families of women who did not overcome this situation repeat again and again and that it must be almost a mantra: "You are not alone". Courage and for it.
One last thing: In Spain we have a research group (Moms and Babies Project, perinatal psychology working group of the UNED) on postpartum depression that is raising funds to develop a mobile app that helps women with postpartum depression. Apparently this type of applications are working well in Anglo-Saxon countries, so they hope to be able to replicate it with the Spanish population. You can donate and contribute to the development of this project.
Photos: Pixabay.com
In Babies and more: The sincere photos of a mother that show the reality of her fight against postpartum depression
