Perinatal Depression: For Mothers, Mothers-to-be and their Families and Friends

Pregnant women and new moms experience lots of emotions, many of them wonderful. But sometimes mothers and mothers-to-be are surprised when they have negative feelings as well. They may feel unhappy, depressed, or lonely. They may not be sure whether they are happy about being pregnant or being a mom. They may be stressed, afraid, worried, nervous or anxious about their situation or about the future. Some new mothers may feel guilty or confused about having these feelings. These emotions can be overwhelming, especially when mothers don't know where to turn or how to talk about their feelings without feeling judged or embarrassed.

This page provides mothers, mothers-to-be, and their loved ones with more information about the feelings described above. These feelings may be symptoms of perinatal depression, or depression that occurs during and after pregnancy.

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Perinatal Depression: For Mothers, Mothers-to-be and their Families and Friends

Contents

What is perinatal depression?

How can a woman nurture herself during and after pregnancy?

How can family and friends help a new mom who shows signs of being depressed?

Where can I go for help?

Where can I find handouts, books or videos about perinatal depression?

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What is perinatal depression?

Perinatal depression is a term used to describe depression that occurs in women during or after pregnancy. Click on any of the links below to learn more about perinatal depression.

Frequently Asked Questions about Postpartum Depression

The National Women's Health Information Center

http://www.4woman.gov/faq/postpartum.htm

Depression During and After Pregnancy; A Resource for Women, Their Families, and Friends

A free booklet produced by the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration

http://www.mchb.hrsa.gov/pregnancyandbeyond/depression

Depression in Motherhood

Radiantmother.com, Kim Richardson, MA, LCPC

http://www.radiantmother.com/depressionandmothers.htm

Depression in Pregnancy

WellMother.com, Shaila Misri, MD, FRCP(C)

http://www.wellmother.com/pregnancy.htm

Recovering from Delivery

KidsHealth for Parents: The Nemour Foundation

http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/home/recovering_delivery.html

Pregnancy: Not Always a Happy Event

Postnatal Depression Support Association of South Africa

http://www.pndsa.co.za/anxiety_depression.htm

Professional and consumer education in English and Spanish supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.

MedEdPPD

www.mededppd.org

Postpartum Information

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

http://www.dbsalliance.org/info/postpartum.html

La Parte Emocional de Usted: Acostumbrandose al Perido Post Parto

(The Emotional You: Postpartum Adjustment, Spanish)

Postpartum Education for Parents, Santa Barbara, CA.

http://www.sbpep.org/ppd/pepartemotionalspan.htm

The Emotional You: Postpartum Adjustment, English

Postpartum Education for Parents, Santa Barbara, CA.

http://www.sbpep.org/ppd/TheEmotionalYouBrochure.pdf

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How can a woman nurture herself during and after pregnancy?

New mothers may benefit from the advice below on taking care of themselves during and after pregnancy.

The Well-Mom Checklist

A list of several "to-do" items for new moms to help them get through the day in a healthy way.

http://www.houstonpostpartum.com/checklist.htm

Things You Can Do to Feel Better

A list of suggestions that may help women in their recovery from pregnancy-related depression.

http://www.postpartumstress.com/things_you_can_do.html

Support for New Mothers: How you can build your own social support network

One of the important things a mother can do for herself is to reach out to others who can help her: family, friends, other mothers, and others who can provide emotional support. When mothers don’t have close family or friends around them, they can still go looking for supportive relationships.

http://www.postpartum.net/build-network.html

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How can family and friends help a new mom who shows signs of being depressed?

Sometimes new fathers, family members, and friends can see that a new mother is struggling and they’re not sure how to help. Learning about postpartum feelings and experiences can help a loved one to understand what a mother might be going through. The websites below offer several suggestions for dads, families and friends on how to be supportive of new mothers who are struggling:

Boot Camp for New Dads: Postpartum Depression

Information for new dads. Explains postpartum depression and includes a handout that suggests many ways a father can help his partner when she is suffering from postpartum depression.

http://www.www.bcnd.org

Tips for Postpartum Partners

Information and suggestions for partners of mothers who are suffering from postpartum depression.

http://www.postpartum.net/postpartum-partners.html

For Fathers and Families

WebMD has many articles for fathers and families with information about postpartum depression, it's symptoms, treatment and prevention.

http://www.webmd.com/search/search_results/default.aspx?sourceType=all&query=postpartum%20depression%20and%20fathers

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Where can I go for help?

More resources and referrals to a wide range of health and human services in Cuyahoga County can also be found at First Call for Help. http://www.uws.org/fcfh

Network of Care sponsored by Lorain County Board of Mental Health contains mental health information for providers and consumers as well as links to services. http://www.lorain.oh.networkofcare.org/mh

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Where can I find handouts, books or videos about perinatal depression?