CAMAF Member Option Guides & Info

MorE thAn thE BLuES Now that you're a mother, what should you expect? Motherhood is a wondrous and exciting experience, filled with joy and hopeful anticipation. it may however take a while to feel the true fulfillment of motherhood. you may have been aware that the majority of mothers who have just given birth become weepy, agitated and generally emotional a few days afterwards - in fact, you probably expected the baby blues. typically this distress lasts only a day or two - at the most a fortnight - and the new mother then recovers her equilibrium, and is steady enough to cope with the enormous adjustments involved in integrating her new baby into her life. Certainly in the early months you will be tired, short of sleep and will feel that your life is chaotic. It is amazing how such a small person can create such a huge impact. you will have very little time for yourself or your partner, and it may take quite some time to establish a routine. you may wonder whether you will ever have a life of your own again. it is quite normal to be anxious, to feel more dependent and to feel less capable. But generally, as the weeks go by, you will feel as though you are learning to manage better and better. however, sometimes things don't work out this way. the blues don't go away, or maybe they do in the beginning, but as the weeks and months go by, slowly you get sucked into a downward spiral, feeling more and more unhappy, or anxious and less and less competent. you know that you are meant to be happy because you have just had a baby; but you don't feel happy. in fact, at least 10 - 15% of all mothers feel like you. this has been happening for thousands of years to women all over the world. why did nobody warn you? they probably did not want to spoil the joy of your pregnancy, or to challenge the notion that the birth of a baby always makes a mother happy. or maybe the women around you were too ashamed of their own similar feelings of depression to share them. the purpose of this booklet is to give you some information about the many symptoms of postnatal depression; from the mildest to the most severe forms and empower you to gain control over what you are feeling. the list of symptoms should not alarm you; women who experience depression will probably recognise a combination of symptoms that apply to their particular case. remember that this is a condition which always results in complete recovery and the distressing symptoms can be eliminated by various forms of treatment. EMOTIONAL CHANGES AFTER hAving A BABy The birth of a first child will probably be the biggest change you will undergo in your life. Everything changes - your body, your mind, your relationships, your career, your financial status, and your responsibilities. initially it can be quite overwhelming to know that you are responsible for a helpless little baby 24 hours a day. At the beginning nothing is automatic - one has to think about each moment - the feeding, sleeping, burping, changing. if you are feeling exhausted and confused - it's no wonder. it is important to remember that "the Birth of a Mother" may not CHAPTER 1: whAt iS PoStnAtAL dEPrESSion? 4

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