However, the struggles of motherhood don’t simply vanish when the child is born, but rather, different challenges tend to surface. Difficulties related to breastfeeding, a lack of sleep from constantly tending to the baby’s needs all while having a body that is healing from bringing new life into this world. There is a lot for mothers to deal with, which can lead to heavier amounts of mental stress. So, let’s take some time to honor all moms by learning how to best support their mental health and well-being.
It is important to understand that depression and anxiety can happen at any point during a woman’s lifetime but for many mothers, the period around pregnancy and after the birth of a new child can be a particularly high-risk period for their mental health. In our previous blog, Addressing How Biological and Social Factors Impact Women’s Mental Health we discussed perinatal depression. There’s a collective term now for prenatal depression before the baby’s born and postpartum depression after the baby’s born — perinatal depression. It is considered normal to get the ‘baby blues’ for a couple of days after giving birth since it has an immense impact on a woman’s mind and body. However, if feelings of sadness/emptiness last for more than two weeks in the post-birth period it is likely one could be suffering from postpartum depression (Office on Women’s Health, 2019) and it may be useful for them to seek out advice from their healthcare provider. One may also experience other signs and symptoms of anxiety and depression that are worth looking out for, such as:
According to researchers, pregnant women and women with children commonly suffer from depression during and after pregnancy. In fact, it is so common that 1 in 8 women experience postpartum depression after giving birth and rates seem to be on the rise. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) compared postpartum depression diagnoses of women who delivered babies in the year 2000 and 2015, showing that rates of postpartum depression had increased seven times in that 15-year period. In part, some of this increase may be related to increased awareness and screening for mental health problems in the postpartum period, although findings also showed that many women still are not routinely screened for depression and anxiety during postpartum follow-ups.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what causes postpartum depression since there are many factors to consider. Not everyone experiences the same symptoms, so one person’s experience is not the same as another. Researchers think that a mix of emotional, physical, and environmental variables contribute to the cause. However, there are risk factors that can help women and their healthcare providers identify signs to look out for:
It is important that mothers take the time to prioritise their mental health for both themselves and those around them. SilverCloud has a family support suite that uses internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy to assist families including a program specifically for new parents in overcoming their mental health struggles. Of course, there are some small steps you can take today to help support healthy mental health practices.
Even small changes can have positive results. Here are some suggestions to try out: