Babylune

Mummy Doesn’t Cry (any more)

by kate baggott on February 1st, 2006

I’ve stopped weeping every five minutes.

You know what it’s like. Everything can set off the waterworks for the first weeks after giving birth when sleep schedules, hormones and new responsibilities throw a woman’s entire system out of whack. I cried when I was tired or hungry, I cried when my mother went home, I cried when I begged my five week-old colicky baby to please, please, please go to sleep, I cried while watching my son put his own socks on, while listening to a friend tell me about her vacation and while watching Oprah. I cried when things were bad, when times were good, when I saw the world at its worst and when I realised anew that life and the people who live it are often just too beautiful for words.

It was what everyone calls “the baby blues” and it is a completely normal part of the post partum period. Less common, but completely understandable is post partum depression. According to the US Department of Health & Human Service, “the difference between postpartum depression and the baby blues is that postpartum depression often affects a woman’s well-being and keeps her from functioning well for a longer period of time. ” Rarer, but even more serious, is post partum psychosis that is suffered usually by “women who have bipolar disorder or another psychiatric problem called schizoaffective disorder… Symptoms may include delusions, hallucinations, sleep disturbances, and obsessive thoughts about the baby.”

For a more detailed explanation of the differences between each condition and its symptoms, see The National Women’s Health Information Center fact sheet on post partum depression.

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POSTED IN: Infancy