Everything You Need To Know About Postpartum Depression Symptoms

Postpartum Depression Symptoms

Giving birth is a new and very special feeling. In many cultures and religions, there are celebrations to honor pregnant women. Some rituals include dedicated prayers, baby shower’s and practice of washing to-be mom feet using herbs to put her in a calm and relaxed mood. Today, child birth is celebrated with relatives at home and generally there is a ‘welcome baby’ party. But, the birth can also trigger a lot of powerful emotions. Yes, it ranges from excitement to uncertainty. It’s the time when you mind all sorts of questions, for example, how to properly care for a baby? What should you do when a baby cries? How to keep a baby safe? The list is nearly endless…

The jumble of emotions mixed together produce feelings of insecure and underprepared. New mom’s easily fall into a spiral of emotional facing ‘baby blues’, panic and insomnia. These are postpartum depression symptoms, mostly they begin within two-four days after birth.

Common Symptoms Of Depression

Some of the first symptoms are intense and might last longer than others. Eventually, they block the day-to-day activity and baby care tasks. We have mentioned postpartum depression symptoms in a list. These symptoms may last for months and years.

  • Indecisiveness
  • Loss of appetite
  • Loss of energy
  • Feeling of shame
  • Intense irritability
  • Inability to rest
  • Overwhelming Fatigue
  • Severe panic attack
  • Sense of guilt

An ongoing struggle to find hope and light within cause recurrent thought of death or suicide. Moreover, it induces feelings of anger and withdrawal from friends and family. In the worst case scenario, these symptoms can transform into postpartum psychosis. Postpartum depression symptoms can severely impact an individual and develop other physical, emotional and psychological issues. An individual with postpartum psychosis suffers from:

  • Obsessive thought
  • Confusion and agitation
  • Sense of Paranoia
  • Hallucinations
  • Disorientation
  • Excessive energy

Causes and Risk Factors

The risk factors are particularly hard to pinpoint reasons being they differ from one case to another. But, within the population, there are number of interrelated factors. It is believed to be contributing to the depression.

Pre-existing Stress: Sometimes new moms have a stress-condition, their quality of sleep depletes faster. Additionally, they might feel overwhelmed and anxious in taking care of a baby because of low self-esteem, and increased self-doubt about baby care.

Physical Changes: Once upon giving a birth, numerous physiological changes cause insecurity about your self-image. Dealing with pain, difficulty in delivery and losing baby weight also causes emotional changes.

Hormonal Changes: Post delivery the estrogen, thyroid and progesterone level drops which also drains energy. In many reported cases, the hormonal change triggers fatigue and depression.

A Powerful Coping Strategy

There are ongoing studies on appropriate early recognition and timely treatment of postpartum depression symptoms. But, you can still leverage some tested and proven coping strategies. For a start, create a secure attachment. You need to consistently respond to your baby’s physical and emotional needs. Depression can make it difficult for moms to bond with children, sometimes it’s nearly impossible to form a connection. However, understand that bonding releases endorphins which make you feel happier and confident as the mother of your new born child.


Location: San Francisco, CA, USA

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