Signs and symptoms vary and can be different for everyone. Your close family and friends may even pick up on the symptoms before you do. Most new moms will experience at least one of these feelings at some time. If you find that you are experiencing one or more of the below symptoms most of the time and they don’t seem to pass, there is a very good chance you have PND.
Top 10 Signs and Symptoms
1. Constant sadness or feeling low
Most moms with PND will feel a constant sadness and low. You may feel stuck in a depressive state and experience very few or no highs. “Even the normal daily things such as bathing, dressing myself and making myself something to eat felt like the hugest amount of effort” explains mom Sandy Olivier (28 Jhb)
2. Hopelessness
You may find it Impossible to face the day to day duties of life and still cope with the challenge of being a new mom. Feelings of desperation and uselessness are also very often accompanied with the hopelessness experienced by moms suffering from PND.
3. Low self-esteem
Most moms with PND describe themselves as “not being good enough”. You may feel as if you are inadequate and incapable of taking care of your new born. You might question every decision you make and find fault in everything you do and nothing will ever seem “right” or “good enough”.
4. Feeling overwhelmed and Anxious
Juggling your normal daily duties, while adapting to a baby in the house, is a lot for any new mom to cope with in the beginning. Although this is a normal part of the motherly journey, if you are suffering with PND your experience with this will be a lot more intense and longer lived. Moms with PND are extremely nervous and on edge. You will worry about everything all of the time. “I felt like I was going to explode inside and never felt content with anything”. Explains mom Theresa Van Der Meulen (34 Pretoria)
5. Sleep and eating disturbances
A new baby will definitely interrupt the normal sleep routines in the household. 1am and 3 am feeds and nappy changes will definitely serve as confirmation of this. However, moms with PND will suffer much more severe sleep and eating disturbances, even long after baby has established a more settled sleeping pattern. You may find yourself experiencing Narcolepsy (wanting to sleep all the time), insomnia (not being able to sleep at all) or even a combination of both.
6. Emotional with the inability to be comforted
Having a baby is a trying and emotional time for any new mom. Moms with PND will however find the emotions to be a lot more overwhelming and a lot longer lived. “ i was a emotional rollercoaster. I would constantly be snapping at my husband for no reason, find myself curled up on the bed balling my eyes, this continued for months until I went to see my gp who diagnosed me with PND” says mom Beverly Cooper (34 Pretoria)
7. Exhaustion and emptiness
Moms with PND very often feel lethargic and over tired most of the time. It seems impossible to function at a “normal” level and there is a lack motivation to continue with the day to day routines.. A sense of emptiness very quickly replaces the excitement and joys of motherhood. More than 70% of moms suffering with PND have reported feelings of “emptiness and complete despair.”
8. Social withdrawal and isolation
It is extremely common for moms suffering with PND to isolate themselves from family, friends and loved ones. You may feel strangely disconnected from the world, as if there was a imaginary wall inbetween you and everyone else. This is also because you don’t understand what is happening or why you are feeling this way and assume no one else will either.
9. Guilt
You could feel guilty because you believe you should be handling being a new mom better. You feel like your baby deserves better than you. You may be concerned whether your baby can sense your current feelings and emotions or that you are crying so much. You feel guilty that you don’t feel the same happiness and connection that all the other moms have described and you may even wonder if your baby will be better off without you.
10. Lack of concentration and loss of memory
Moms with PND can't concentrate, remember or focus on anything. Everything is a blur and you are stuck in limbo. You cant remember what you were meant to do or make a decision or put together words for simple sentences.
You may be doing everything right, everything they taught you about being a mom. Taking care of yourself, exercising, eating right, taking vitamins, doing yoga, but you just can’t seem to get over this. You will try to snap yourself out of it but despite numerous attempts you fail. You will know something is wrong but have no idea what it is. You could also be afraid that if you ask for help you will be judged or that you may even lose your baby. Most moms with PND will not necessarily suffer from all of the above symptoms. There is help out there for moms suffering with PND. What you are feeling is normal and nothing to be ashamed of. In the next article we will discuss all the help available to you and where to get it from. - Cindy Aalbers
*This article is copyrighted. You are welcome to share it, without altering the contents, giving proper credit to the author and link to this article. Please note Moomie is not a medical website. All information provided here are to be used at your own discretion. Always consult your caregiver for medical advice.
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