From Baby blues to Baby bliss.

Written by Naturopath-Marie Caruso

With approximately 20% of mothers now suffering Post Natal Depression (PND), it is important to be aware of how it presents so it can be detected in friends, partners, family members or maybe even yourself.

Signs and symptoms:

Physical: fatigue, sleep difficulties especially insomnia, faintness, muscular aches and pains, changed appetite, constipation and low libido.

Emotional/mental: crying for no apparent reason, inability to cry, feeling unable to cope, overwhelmed and severe irritability. Anxiety is common, with 30 – 40% of sufferers exhibiting extreme anxiety. Guilt is also a strong feature, with feelings of inadequacies as a mother, loss of self esteem and negative thoughts.

Onset: there is still no general consensus on when PND begins. Some believe it occurs within 6 months of birth whereas others say it can manifest even after a baby is one year old. Other sources suggest that it may be depression that has actually been present before the mother was even pregnant or began while she was pregnant.

People affected:

PND can affect anyone regardless of age and culture. It has been documented that there is a 50% likelihood that subsequent episodes will occur, if it has manifested once before.

Causes: there are numerous causes that can trigger PND. To date not one thing has been determined as the only cause of PND.

Hormonal- recent literature suggests that the result of hormonal fluctuations that occur within pregnancy and that the dramatic drop in hormones could cause PND.

Thyroid Dysfunction-is a condition which manifests similar to depression. It has been determined that 20 -30% of people suffering depression have a dysregulated thyroid. It has been estimated that 10% of PND sufferers have a thyroid dysfunction.

Nutritional Factors-there are many nutritional factors that could result in PND, from lack of omega 3’s and low folate. However the most common being Iron deficiency anaemia. With 50% of females being iron deficient it is a highly probable cause of PND.

Sleep Deprivation- inadequate deep sleep (REM) where you dream, has also been noted to result in mental illness including depression. With a newborn, it is very difficult to ascertain adequate sleep and so this on its own could result in PND.

Diagnosis and treatment: PND is usually diagnosed by a medical practitioner or Maternal Health Nurse via the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) which is a set of 10 questions determining the severity of anxiety and depression in a person. Orthodox Medical Treatment is usually antidepressant medication with approximately 50% of sufferers on them. Behavioural therapies are also commonly used such as counselling and psychotherapy and have been shown to be equally as effective as antidepressants.

            Natural therapists determine what is your individual cause of PND and use a range of herbs, Nutritionals, homeopathics, diet and lifestyle changes to recorrect the internal imbalance on a physical and emotional level and incorporate these regimes to potentially prevent the next episode.

            If you believe you may be suffering from PND or know someone who might be, please speak to your Health Practitioner or alternatively contact The Post nad antenatal depression association (PaNDa) www.panda.org.au or beyond blue at www.beyondblue.org.au.. so that the baby blues can become baby bliss.