There are lots of great experts and writers blogging at PBS’ “This Emotional Life” website about all sorts of topics related to emotional health. So in addition to the pieces I’ve written about postpartum depression, I wanted to share with you some links to some of the other posts you might find interesting. Here are two:
Prepartum Healthcare Can Impact Postpartum Mood Disorders
Pediatricians: They’d Not Just for Kids Anymore
Both of these blog posts are by Jessica Zucker, PhD.The first offers 8 tips for obstetricians and midwives to help lessen the impact of postpartum depression, and the second offers 8 tips for pediatricians to do the same. Great advice!
I really like the Pediatricians: They’re Not Just for Kids Anymore write-up. It’s true that pediatricians are the ones who typically see the mother first, and it’s their office that would get the phone calls from the mother with concerns about the baby. It’s the pediatrician’s office that would come into contact with the mother the most, not the OB/GYN’s office.
People must realize that the well-being of the baby is dependent on the well-being of the mother. The pediatrician (whose patient is the baby) should be concerned about the postpartum mom because it’s her mental health that has a huge impact on the baby’s development. The least they can do is provide a pamphlet to all new moms, regardless of their current state. In the ideal situation, the pediatrician’s standard protocol should be to ask the new mother during each visit how she is doing, especially if she is a first-time mother and/or a mother who had complications during childbirth.
I’m not sure, however, how we can make it so all pediatricians will proactively incorporate such steps into routine baby checkups in the first year. Not sure if it’s just me, but I feel that pediatricians for the most part still only do the minimum of what is expected of them (i.e., provide care for the baby). On top of that, how are we going to get mothers to feel comfortable answering questions from a doctor who by definition is a child’s doctor? Whenever I was asked by my pediatrician how I was feeling (because she knew what had happened to me during delivery), I felt a bit uncomfortable. I didn’t want her to think I was failing to properly care for my baby. Plus, I thought her business was taking care of my daughter, not me.
Now, if we REQUIRE pediatricians to incorporate such steps, then we would have more assurance that PPD can be detected and treated earlier!
That's a problem for a lot of moms Ivy. We all want our pediatricians to think we are the BEST MOMS EVERRRRRRRR. I would never have let my pediatrician know what I was going through unless specifically asked in a way that was supportive and calm.
Good to know…. thank you very much…