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Dealing with Postpartum Depression?
Why Getting Help Is a Good Thing for Mom and Baby
By Alexandria Powell
About a month after Karen Putz's second child was born, she began to realize something wasn't right. Putz, from Bolingbrook, Ill., remembers crying a lot and being incredibly tired.
"One afternoon, a friend that I hadn't seen in a long time came to visit and I couldn't even keep my eyes open," says Putz. "I told her I needed to sleep, handed her the baby and just conked out for an hour."
Putz's doctor told her she had the "baby blues." He was wrong. She was suffering from postpartum depression.
"With postpartum depression, there's an incredible heaviness and everything takes an effort," Putz says. "There's no joy at a time when you should be feeling incredible love for your infant. I remember looking at my daughter's baby pictures a few years later and telling my husband, 'I don't remember how beautiful she was.' It was like looking at someone else's child – that's how detached I was during that time."
Putz's situation is not unusual. According to the American Psychiatric Association, anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of new moms suffer from moderate or severe postpartum depression. And postpartum depression impacts more than mothers. Recent studies show that when parents are depressed, their parenting behaviors may change, potentially leading to negative consequences for Baby, too.
Postpartum depression is a biological illness that can emerge any time from a month to a year after the birth of a baby. Symptoms may include feelings of guilt, fatigue and a sense of worthlessness. Some mothers may also worry about hurting themselves or their babies. It's not to be confused with the "baby blues," a common term for the weepiness and mood swings that many women experience in the first week after childbirth.
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