Building Awareness For Postpartum Symptoms

By reading this article, you will be able get a sense of whether you or someone you love may currently be suffering from postpartum depression.  Read the terrible stories about mothers killing their babies which might have been avoided by early detection of Post Partum Depression.

It is a bizarre and frightening deed, one that elicits an almost primal horror: an apparently normal mother suddenly snaps and kills her newborn child. Sadly, it is not all that rare. In April, according to police, Lucrezia Gentile, a Brooklyn housewife, reported that her two-month-old son had been abducted, then confessed that she had drowned him in his bath. Reason: she could not stand his incessant crying. A year earlier, Michele Remington, a factory worker in Bennington, Vt., fatally shot her infant son with a .22-cal. handgun before unsuccessfully trying to kill herself. Kathleen Householder, of Rippon, W. Va., hit her two-week-old daughter in the head with a fist-size rock because she was "fussing"; Householder dumped the tiny body in a nearby river.

The doleful litany goes on and on. What can possibly explain such horrific acts? Increasingly, doctors and psychiatrists are pointing to temporary mental breakdown in the months after giving birth, postpartum disorders that can range from mild depression to full-blown psychosis.

(Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C967743%2C00.html#ixzz0xPmnHcRl)

Postpartum depression symptoms can occur almost immediately after delivering a baby all the way up until several months following the baby's birth. Postpartum depression can potentially be harmful not just to the mother experiencing the postpartum depression symptoms, but also to her baby because it can interfere with her ability to bond with and/or to breastfeed her child. Some women with postpartum depression contemplate harming themselves or their babies. If women suffering from postpartum depression ever find themselves thinking such faults, it is essential for them to seek medical help immediately. Full blown, and deep, postpartum depression has been known to result in the suicide of the mother or in the mother's killing her infant.

Here are important steps to recognize the symptoms of this condition and get help right away.

1.  Notice your mood. If you find yourself frequently feeling sad or crying for no reason following the birth, it could be a symptom of postpartum depression.

2.  Keep track of your sleep patterns. If you have disrupted and restless sleep because of anxiety over the baby, then you should speak to a doctor.

3. Examine your feelings. Feelings of rejection, hopelessness and loss are all symptoms of postpartum depression. Thoughts of death and suicide are all common in women suffering from this condition.

4. Note your energy level. If you have a lack of energy and no interest in sex following the birth of your child, you may have postpartum depression.

5.  Take a look at your physical health. Postpartum depression also manifests itself in the body by causing dizziness, shakiness, and a rapid heartbeat.

Women with postpartum depression  may find useful information on the web sites of the National Women’s Health Information Center <www.4women.gov> and from groups such as Postpartum Support International <www.chss.iup.edu/postpartum> and Depression after Delivery<www.depressionafterdelivery.com>.

Family members and anyone who is in constant contact with a new mother need to be cognizant also of the symptoms of postpartum depression and help the new mom get help before a tragedy can occur.

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