Solutions for Postpartum Depression

Postpartum Depression is a term that sounds familiar to most people but is not really understood very well. It is very important that a distinction be made between what we call “baby blues” and true postpartum depression.
A pregnancy causes both hormonal and psychological changes in a woman. Her body and her mindset changes as she carries a baby to term and then prepares to care for it after delivery. These changes are necessary and normal as part of the process of having a baby.
After delivery, normally hormones again change to return to a non-pregnant state. Psychologically a woman naturally experiences some anxiety as she copes with her changing body shape, social role, and her sleep patterns, and she adjusts to the challenges of mothering. These psychological changes and the anxiety that they induce, are as normal as the changing hormones, and the combination of the two often naturally result in “baby blues”. Baby blues are typically the tired, anxious feelings that a new mother experiences the first few weeks after the birth of her child as she adjusts to the experience.
In contrast, postpartum depression is when this anxious state does not subside, but a month or more later persists and often worsens. Sometimes this is due to physical health, such as substance abuse, sometimes it is a chemical imbalance in her body, such as those who suffer from bipolar disorder. Most often it is due to serious stressful anxiety-producing life issues, such a the death of a loved one, financial problems, lack of emotional support in caring for the child, or overall mixed feelings about the desire to have a child at all (such as in an unplanned pregnancy).
The seemingly quick easy solution to this problem is to prescribe medication to alter the mood of the mother and sometimes this is necessary when the situation is chemical and/or extreme. Some women suffer to the extent that they cannot care for themselves or the baby and risk harm to either or both. For other women, the key to their recovery is support from others. This could come in the form of physical help with the baby so the mother can sleep more, it may be financial help to ease the worry on the new mother, or it may be emotional help to assist the mother in processing her thoughts and feelings about all her psychological issues.
I recently read an article about postpartum doulas, which really caught my attention. Postpartum doulas are trained to assist new mothers (parents) in making the transition to parenthood smoothly by “empowering new parents by providing them with the skills they need to take care of and bond with their babies”. Classifying herself as “a professional, a mother, and a baby-specialist” the doula in the article I read, shared that she often takes the place of extended family, providing help and guidance for the new mother. This support has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of postpartum depression.
A postpartum doula and sleep-coach can also be part of the birth process, and is trained and certified through classes at the Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association.
Here is the article that peaked my interest: http://www.northraleighnews.com/2011/03/20/7135_she-helps-tired-new-parents.html
And the organization that provides classes and certification: http://www.cappa.net/
To read in detail about postpartum depression including the signs of: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004481/