I just read a blog post from a new mommy who is experiencing postpartum depression for the third time. She is feeling really bad, and decided to reach out to her doctor’s office and here is what happened …
"I called my doctor’s office and couldn’t keep from crying some more as I pleaded for help before my 6 week visit this coming Friday. The nurse said to take a warm bath, get a friend to come over so I could nap, have the husband help more…
So I thanked the nurse, considered her recommendation to take the mini pill (progesterone only birth control) to help smooth out my frazzled hormones, and told her I’d see her Friday. The last time I took the mini pill I cried for two weeks straight and considered radical self-harm. Not an option."
This is a mom with a history of PPD who made the decision to reach out and that’s the help she gets. She might as well not have even bothered to call. I get these same kind of stories from new moms ALL THE TIME. I swear to you I hear stuff like this almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. From big cities and small towns. Do we need any more evidence that many people in the healthcare community just don’t know how to deal with PPD? Knowing what I know now, I think if I had a healthcare professional tell me or anyone I knew something like that I would have a really hard time not DECKING THEM! This makes me so grateful for the healthcare groups and doctors and nurses out there who have taken it upon themselves to be trained about postpartum mood disorders and to try and create systems for caring for women like us. Thank you!!! You are my heroes!!
That's ridiculous. Warm bath. IF ONLY!
Sure a warm bath, a friend to help to mom to sleep are all nice…but in and of themselves, are nothing more than a band-aid.
A referral to a specialist in mental health specifically geared toward postpartum issues would have been real nice. Unfortunately, that is hard to come by.
As a registered nurse, my goal is to reach out to the OB offices in the area, and be THE referral source for them. I have worked in mental health, so I can do the screening, but the really sad part is, the limited resources I have available to make referrals. My littlest baby needs to get into pre-school, and then I will be real busy educating the mental health and health care community about Post Partum Mood disorders. Wish me luck!
Yeah, I'm with FineMom….a warm bath??? come on! You're dealing with a major chemical imbalance and/or whacked out hormones…if you know of a bubble bath out there that can take care of one of the above things, let me know…I'll buy a lifetime supply so I won't be petrified to have another baby and risk the death grip of PPD all over again! All you suffering moms out there, please don't be afraid to ask for help. I did and without it, who knows where I'd be. I certainly wouldn't be enjoying my 15 month old baby boy like I am today! The North Shore Child and Family Guidence Center of Manhasset, NY helped me out of the dredges. If you're near Manhasset, NY and need help…look up their number…they're one of the best teams of dr's and therapists out there! Trust me, I know from experience!
Yep, I see it ALL. THE. TIME. as well. It's just beyond words, the scope of the uh…misinformation. And it's from all levels. I see it online, I hear about it here in my area.
We have a bill in our legislature. There's some talk of changing the wording from ~compulsory screening~ of new moms to ~suggested screening~. :O Makes me want to spit nails!
Ah, this ranks up there with my OB who suggested that all I needed was "a little retail therapy". When I went back a few weeks later feeling even worse, he gave me a 6-wk starter pack for Zoloft. When I asked what to do when the 6 weeks were up (should I get a referaal to a psychiatrist, etc.) he told me just to take the 6 weeks and that would fix the problem. HA! Even I knew better than that. What a moron!
I think PPD education should be mandatory for all OB/GYNs and General Practioners!
I can't agree more with Shannon, but I would add that instead of just PPD education, what they need is PPMD education.
Believe it or not, but I was sent home by 3 — count them 3 — doctors when I went in trying to tell them there was something wrong with me. Turns out I had postpartum depression with psychotic features (a.k.a postpartum psychosis).
Can you imagine? 3 trained doctors sent home me home telling me I was suffering from a case of PPD and that I was doing a good job of managing it on my own with warm showers and herbal teas!!!!!!
I just thank God that I eventually saw a psychiatrist who finally saw what was going on with me.
I already had General Anxiety Disorder and OCD, but was seeing a psychiatrist all through my pregnancy and had no problems. Although, when I asked him if there was a plan if I developed PPD after my son was born, he told me not to worry. He did not think I would develop it, he was wrong. I guess I was lucky in some ways because I knew the signs of an anxiety attack, and that is how it started. I was also lucky because i was still in the hospital, soon as i showed signs I call a nurse and told her. They took my son to the nursery and call my psychiatrist and the doctor assign to me at the hospital. I really was not that bad so they gave me some medication and sent me home when they felt i was better.
When I got home it got worse, and finally I told my husband. I went to the mental health unit at the hospital and told them i needed to see someone and why. I told them exactly what I was going through, even though I was frightened they would take my son away from me, I needed help. I was hospitalized for two weeks and my husband, my doctor, the nurses and therapist were amazing and I owe my life to them.
After I was better, when I would take my son to his appointments, they would ask me about PPD and I guess they ask all the mothers not just the ones who have experienced it already. I was impressed. I think that there is not only a need to train the health care workers on PPD, but there also should be training of the parents, they should have it repeated by their doctor over and over until it is understood not only by the mother but the father as well, what the signs are. All doctors and nurses should take even the smallest complaint as a something very serious, and not dismiss it as something trivial.