Feeling the blues

With the arrival of a baby, shouldn’t the new mother feel ecstatic, contended and rewarding? However, some new mothers feel absolutely rotten! Have you felt sad, hopeless, empty, weepy, having difficulty falling asleep or just overwhelmed?

You may find yourself crying over issues that were not such a big deal before. You may feel exhausted, irritable, anxious and wonder whether you are a good enough mother. These feelings may also affect women who experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth.

Well don’t worry, you are not alone. About 80% of new mothers experience this “Baby Blues”, which is quite normal during the first couple of weeks after childbirth (American Pregnancy Association, 2015).

After childbirth, hormone levels drop drastically and suddenly. Bodily changes occur rapidly. Milk comes in and your breasts may be engorged. With exhaustion setting in, together with emotional factors joining the bandwagon of change, it is no wonder some mothers feel overwhelmed. With support, these “blues” will go away in due course.

However, some of these mothers (about 15 – 20%), may experience a more serious form of “blues” known as Post Partum Depression (PPD) (Stewart, Robertson, Dennis, Grace, & Wallington, 2003). Symptoms include interference with their ability to function on a daily basis. They may feel confused, scared, everything will annoy them. They will also feel resentment towards the baby or their partner. Postpartum Depression can lead to anxiety too. New mothers with this illness may have suicidal thoughts and the inability to bond and care for their babies. This condition will also last longer.

Don’t despair, you are not highly unusual. And, you are definitely not a freak. It is a common illness and it is completely treatable. Partners, family members and friends can play an important role in helping PPD mothers overcome this illness.

Get enough of rest and sleep, eat well with the right kind of healthy food. Continue to take your prenatal multivitamins and minerals. This is because the birth of a baby would have depleted your stock of vitamins and minerals from your body. Studies show that it takes between one to two years to naturally replenish your body with these vitamins and minerals.

Ask for help immediately, don’t suffer alone. Share your feelings with your doctor, family and friends. Join a support group over the internet. You will know that you are not alone, there are other new mothers who feel exactly the way you do.

Talk through your feelings with a trained mental health professional like a clinical hypnotherapist, psychologist, psychotherapist, or psychiatrist. Each professional will help in their own way. Counsellors help you to understand your problems and point out your strengths while a clinical psychologist might be able to guide you through a Cognitive Behavior Therapy session to help you change the way you think. However, if your PPD worsens, you should seek help from a psychiatrist who may prescribe some medications to you (please be careful if you are breastfeeding).

The American Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapist, in their article in January 2007 reported that the use of hypnosis successfully treated Post Partum Depression (single case study) without the use of drugs (Yexley, 2007).

Hypnosis is actually a very natural state of mind. It's like the wonderful feeling of yourself, lying on your sofa, and being so comfortable and relaxed. At this time, with the help of a trained therapist, you will be able to focus more attention or visualize yourself becoming healthier, more confident, to instil self- belief or whatever it is that you want to be.

Thus, through hypnosis, a mother who is going through PPD will be able to address any negative self- beliefs of self- doubt that she may have buried into her subconscious mind. She can tap into her own mind to bring out happy and positive memories or just a greater sense of achievement. This can help instil a stronger coping mechanism into her subconscious mind. It is also important that she becomes aware that feeling blue or feeling guilty is NOT her fault. Together with an experienced hypnotherapist, you can work on creating positive emotions as these will all come in handy when the going gets tough.

Not only would this help the mother, but it would also strengthen the mother-child bond. Babies would be able to pick up the mum’s emotions and they will react accordingly. A happy and positive mum will then lead to a happy and positive baby.

Bibliography

American Pregnancy Association (2015). Retrieved from: https://americanpregnancy.org/first-year-of-life/baby-blues/

Stewart, D. E., Robertson, E., Dennis, C.-L., Grace, S. L., & Wallington, T. (2003). POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION: LITERATURE REVIEW OF RISK FACTORS AND INTERVENTIONS. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/lit_review_postpartum_depression.pdf

Yexley, M. J. (2007). Retrieved from: https://www.asch.net/portals/0/journallibrary/articles/ajch-49/49-3/yexley49-3.pdf