What are the Baby Blues?
After having a baby, the mother’s body is flooded with hormones designed to change her body from a pregnant state to that of a post-pregnancy state. It took nine months plus a couple weeks to get the baby ready, and it will take at least that amount of time to return to “normal” pre-pregnancy conditions. The rush of hormones has many helpful functions, but also causes emotional symptoms that may feel like severe premenstrual syndrome. Mood swings, feeling down or on edge, fatigue and a general sense of being overwhelmed can be part of the process. This wave of hormone-induced depression is known as the Baby Blues. It’s normal and usually passes within a few weeks. What Is Postpartum Depression? If the feelings associated with the Baby Blues are more intense than normal, growing into feelings of depression, feeling unprepared for your role as a mother, feeling bitter about the baby or having a hard time keeping up with caring for your baby, you could have postpartum depression. What Are
Baby blues is a condition experienced by 75-80% of new mothers. Mood swings, feelings of sadness or numbness and loss of appetite are considered normal within the first ten days after giving birth. If baby blues continue or worsen after the first two weeks, however, the condition may be considered postpartum depression, which is medically serious and may require treatment such as therapy or medication. While the exact cause of baby blues is unknown, experts believe that the drastic hormonal changes experienced after giving birth can lead to this condition. Production of estrogen, progesterone and endorphins drop drastically, causing the body to go into a withdrawal. Some studies suggest that thyroid dysfunction can also impact this condition. Additionally, sleep deprivation due to the infant’s sleeping patterns may exacerbate symptoms. Baby blues are more likely to become postpartum depression if you have a stressful life or marriage, experience a difficult labor or pregnancy, suffer f
Having a baby can be both exhilarating and exhausting. It can bring much joy; it can also affect us in ways we would never have expected. Soon after giving birth, many women encounter what’s commonly called the “baby blues” — weepiness and moodiness. Often women can’t make any sense of it themselves: “I had everything I ever wanted,” says Gemma, “a beautiful new baby, a wonderful husband — but I was crying over nothing.” The baby blues are often linked to hormonal changes three or four days after delivery, when pregnancy hormones dissipate and milk production kicks in, and also to a sense of physical and emotional anticlimax after the birth. In addition, returning from the hospital to home can help to increase a new mother’s sense of uncertainty. The blues affect 60 to 80 per cent of women shortly after labour, and many find themselves exhausted, unable to sleep, or feeling trapped or anxious. Your appetite can change (you may eat more or less), or you can feel irritable, nervous, wo
The baby blues is the affectionate term given to a mild form of depression that occurs after labor and delivery. It’s also known as the postpartum blues, and usually occurs about three or four days after baby has arrived. The baby blues are best described as a general feeling of sadness or anxiety that typically lasts no more than two weeks. The baby blues usually pop up out of the blue and disappear all on their own. How Common are the Baby Blues? The baby blues are actually a lot more common then most women think. In fact, between 50% and 80% of all new mothers experience some form of the baby blues in the days after childbirth. It tends to be more common in women who have just given birth to their first child. What Causes the Baby Blues? Researchers aren’t 100% sure about what causes the baby blues, however, a variety of factors do seem to be involved. • Physical Changes: The physical changes that you undergo in the days after labor and delivery probably have a great deal to do with
You had so looked forward to this joyous time in your life-your baby’s birth, all the friends and family surrounding you, your dream to begin building your own family now a reality – so why are you so unhappy? Don’t be alarmed. You’re probably suffering from a common form of postpartum depression, or what your grandmother called “the Baby Blues”. It usually begins on or around the third day after delivery and lasts about 10 to 14 days. The noticeable symptoms are crying for no apparent reason, irritability and dysphoria (feeling down). Postpartum depression (PPD) strikes indiscriminately, having little to do with the mother’s personality. All types of women can suffer from this commonly ignore problem, many never knowing that help is available. The probable cause for the baby blues is the rapid drop in progesterone levels that occurs in every woman’s body after giving birth. Progesterone levels drop from a high of 40 times their highest level during a regular menstrual cycle to levels
