Bringing Awareness to The Postpartum Experience
Like many new moms, while I was pregnant, I did all of the research. I downloaded pregnancy apps, watched YouTube videos, and read countless articles. I was lucky to have a medical insurance plan that gave me access to free classes on a variety of topics, from how to prepare for delivery to how to care for my new baby. Unlike many new moms, after having worked as a nanny for three different newborns, I also had years of extensive experience working with babies under my belt!
Somehow, even with the utmost confidence in the weeks leading up to delivery, I still felt absolutely blindsided by my postpartum experience.
As it turns out, up to 50% of women experience “baby blues,” and it’s no surprise! Right after having a baby we are sleep deprived, our hormones are completely unstable, and our bodies have just been literally ripped apart. (That last part is not talked about enough!) Then, in the middle of the most vulnerable moments of our entire lives, we are expected to take care of an amazing-but-helpless little person. Even though this whole thing is considered totally normal, it doesn’t make it any less difficult while we are going through it.
If that isn’t enough, consider the context of America today. We are currently in the middle of a wonderful movement to empower women, which is great! However, while it is incredible and inspiring to want to be a part of this movement, it doesn’t come without complications. The United States currently has the least generous policies on maternity leave out of all the developed countries in the world. As a result, mere weeks after going through the trauma of childbirth, women end up trying to juggle two, not-always-overlapping roles of “doting mother” and “empowered woman.” Too often it’s an unrealistic, uphill battle.
Let’s take a minute and talk statistics.
1 in 7 women experience depression in the year following childbirth.
1 in 5 of those women had thoughts of harming themselves.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death in postpartum women.
The message is clear: women need more knowledge and more support in the weeks and months following childbirth.
When it comes to postpartum depression, or PPD, many women might not realize it when it’s happening to them. It often takes a friend or a loved one to notice the changes in mood or behavior. Furthermore, sometimes PPD doesn’t present as expected. For some women, it manifests as more of an anxiety, irritability, or a lack of bonding with their new babies. Moreover, PPD doesn’t always develop right away. Things might be going relatively smoothly in the beginning, and it isn’t until months later that symptoms begin to emerge. These are just a few examples of details that could easily be overlooked without the proper care.
In my opinion, a good place to start is with compassion—both from oneself and from one’s support system. For me, the need for compassion came when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to achieve the same level of productivity that I could before having a baby. Even when my baby is miles away in childcare, and I have several hours to attempt to be productive, my level of productivity is easily less than 50% of what it once was. And that’s okay. As far as I’m concerned, literally anything above and beyond keeping myself and my baby alive is a feat worth celebrating.
Sometimes a little compassion can do the trick, and sometimes it takes a little more—sometimes medication, or counseling, or sometimes both. Regardless, whether it’s the baby blues or a case of PPD, postpartum is not something that should be taken lightly. The more we know, and the more support we can give one another, the better off we will all be.
