By Gabi Falanga 

If you’ve experienced postpartum depression after the birth of your baby, you’re not alone. Studies show that at least 21% of women will experience depression in the first year after birth. This is part one of three, exploring exactly what postpartum depression (PPD) is and how to deal with it. 

The causes

Postpartum depression can start within a few days or weeks after you’ve had your baby and last for up to a year. It’s caused by chemical, physical, social and psychological factors. These may include: 

Physical factors: 

• Hormone changes
• Sleep deprivation 
• Incorrect or inadequate diet
• Drug and alcohol misuse

Emotional factors: 

• Lack of support
• Increased stress from looking after a baby
• Financial stress
• Health problems in your or your child
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Feeling less attractive or like you’ve lost your identity
• Lack of free time

The symptoms

Postpartum depression has a number of symptoms. It’s normal for up to 80% of women to feel ‘the baby blues’ in the first week or two after having their baby. These include mood swings, feeling very happy and very sad, crying for no reason, or feeling irritable and anxious. While the symptoms of baby blues are the same as PPD, PPD symptoms are more intense and last much longer. They can interfere with your ability to take care of yourself and your baby. Some symptoms of PPD include: 

• You feel very sad and cry a lot, even when you don’t know why
• Severe mood swings
• Difficulty bonding with your baby
• Sleeping too much, too little, or having trouble sleeping
• A significant increase or decrease in appetite
• Withdrawing from family and friends
• Feeling angry
• Trouble concentrating or remembering things
• Not wanting to do things that you normally enjoy
• Feeling worried, scared, guilty, hopeless, overwhelmed or inadequate
• Restlessness
• Thoughts about harming yourself or your baby
• Thoughts about suicide
• Wanting to escape from everyone and everything
• Unexplained aches, pains or illness

Tomorrow, in part two of this series, we will look at a more severe postpartum disorder, called postpartum psychosis, what the risk factors are for PPD, and whether new dads are susceptible to getting PPD. 

If you need help with postpartum depression, contact The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) on 011 234 4837 or 0800 20 50 26.