Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Spring 2006)
TOPIC: When ‘baby blues’ raise red flags
 
by chryss cada

“I would lock the girls safe in a room and call my husband to come home because I had to leave.”

While most women experience the so-called “baby blues” in the first couple of weeks after giving birth, for 10-15 percent of women nationwide (and as many as 20 percent locally, a survey of new moms found) the feelings of being overwhelmed and hopeless extend well into the first year of their baby’s life.

“Society tells women that becoming a mom means they will be saturated with love and happy feelings from the minute the child is born,” says Sharon Pickrell, a Fort Collins therapist who has counseled new mothers battling post-partum depression (PPD). “When they don’t feel that way, they experience intense guilt and shame.”
warning signs
A woman may be battling postpartum depression
if she:
• Shows self-critical behavior, especially in relation to her
  parenting skills.
• Has trouble sleeping when given the opportunity.
• Has a loss of pleasure, loss of interest, lack of appetite
  or exhibits any of the other symptoms of depression for
  more than two weeks after the baby is born.
• Has excessive worry, dread or fear of something bad
  happening to the baby.
• Doesn’t seem bonded to her baby.
• Isn’t taking care of herself and/or her baby.
 
support
 The Postpartum Depression Support Group meets 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Fridays at Salud Family Health Centers, 1635 Blue Spruce Drive. Children are welcome. For more details, call 494-2908.

Many factors contribute to postpartum depression.

“While the dramatic hormonal changes a woman goes through can contribute to postpartum depression, there are a ton of other risk factors,” explains Laura Schwartz, a therapist who leads a support group created by Larimer County’s new Postpartum Depression Task Force. “Past mental health issues, a complicated pregnancy, lack of a support system can also contribute to a woman developing PPD.”

Coming up with a short questionnaire that could pinpoint the disorder was one of the first tasks of the new task force. Several thousand bro-chures containing the questionnaire have been distributed to local physicians and new parent resource groups.  Experts say approximately 50 percent of women with postpartum depression are never diagnosed and go untreated.

“Doctors drove the creation of this group,” says the task force’s Paula Waldorf. “They came to us and said, ‘We have a problem.’ Now they have a screening tool and resources to refer women to, if PPD is diagnosed.”

Postpartum psychosis, when there is a break with reality and mothers carry through with their plans to harm themselves and/or their children, is a step beyond postpartum depression and is far more rare.

Follett doesn’t think she would have ever hurt her children, but thinks there’s a possibility she may have hurt herself if she hadn’t told her doctor how she was feeling and been put on antidepressant medication.

“I have a friend going through the same thing right now, and I’m just so happy that at least now there’s help for women dealing with this,” she says.