Postpartum Depression

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Postpartum Depression

• Presented by Leanne Haddad, Vanessa Gabrielson,
  Carol Williams, Amy Kiley, and Tamara Plog

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What is postpartum depression?

• Postpartum depression is a mood disorder with
  feelings of hopelessness, sadness and
  despondency, after the birth of a baby
• A milder form of postpartum depression is
  referred to as The Baby Blues
• Baby Blues is temporary, lasting up to 3 weeks
• Postpartum depression lasts longer, up to a few
  months

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What is postpartum depression? Continued

• Mom has obsessive thoughts, feels like she has
  fallen into a dark hole that she cant get out of
• At least 50 of all new mothers experience some
  form of postpartum depression, usually the baby
  blues
• True postpartum depression affects 10-15 of new
  mothers

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The Causes

• No one, single cause
• Experts suspect it is due to rapid changes in
  levels of Progesterone and Estrogen
• During pregnancy, endorphin levels are higher,
  giving us a Feel Good Outlook and after
  pregnancy, endorphins drop, increasing the risk
  of postpartum depression

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The causes continued

• Besides hormones, these are also possible
  contributors of postpartum depression
• Difficult pregnancy or delivery
• Problematic marriage/relationship
• Baby with high needs
• Extreme fatigue
• Sense of loss at not being pregnant

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Who is at risk?

• A woman who has experienced
• Previous episodes
• Any sort of prebirth depression
• A traumatic birth experience
• Any other sort of depression
• Any recent life changing event
• An extreme history of p.m.s.
• A family history of the depression

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The Signs and Symptoms

• Inability to sleep or excess sleeping
• Change in appetite
• Negative thinking
• Inability to concentrate or make decisions
• Panic attacks
• Obsession with welfare of the baby
• any combination of these for more than two weeks!

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When to seek help

• Urgent help needed when
• Delusions or hallucinations are present
• Thoughts of hurting yourself /or your baby

• If symptoms persist longer than two weeks
• If symptoms first occur several weeks after
  delivery
• When daily living tasks are overwhelming
• Felling indifferent to your infant

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• Prevention
• Being aware of symptoms
• Having a good support system
• This includes a therapist prior to delivery
• Ask for help

• Treatment
• Therapy
• Antidepressants
• Peer Support Groups

10
Andrea Yatesthe woman that murdered her
children.

• Houston-June 2001
• Noah - 7 years old
• John 6 years old
• Paul 3 years old
• Luke 2 years old
• Mary 6 months old
• All drowned in their home by their mother- Andrea
  Yates

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Why?

• She believed she was a bad mother, and felt her
  children were disabled and not developing
  normally, so she sent them to God.
• Additionally, she believed she was possessed by
  Satan and the only way to save them was to kill
  them and send them to heaven

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Prior Symptoms

• Family history of depression
• Suffered postpartum depression and suicide
  attempt after the birth of her fourth child
• Death of her father and birth of their fifth
  child
• Miscarriage of their sixth child
• Robotic movements weeks before murders

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Legal Defense

• Trouble with the Insanity pea for postpartum
  depression

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Outcome

• Andrea Yates charged with murder and sentenced to
  40 years in prison
• Eligible for parole in 2041

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Any questions?
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Resources

• http//www.postpartumstress.com/ppd_risk_assessmen
  t_during.htm
• http//yourmedicalsource.com/library/depressionpre
  gnancy/DPR_whatis.html
• http//www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/parenting/06/26/pos
  tpartum.depression/
• http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/yates/