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New mothers rarely admit to the full extent of their stress level or to the difficult emotions they live with. After all, women with new babies are supposed to feel blissful, loving and grateful for the miracle of new life in their care, right?

Many women are scared to be seen as a “bad” or “crazy” mom. Without a guideline to tell what’s normal and what’s not, they fear their babies will be taken away and never ask for the help they need.

To help set the record straight, let’s take a look at some symptoms common in new mothers. Fatigue, mood swings, persistent tearfulness, irritability, forgetfulness, anxiety, difficulty concentrating are all perfectly normal within 48 hours after delivering a baby. People typically refer to this experience as the “baby blues.” Although the majority of women have to cope with baby blues, the symptoms tend to resolve on their own within two weeks. This is the time it typically takes for a new mother’s body to adjust to the stress of delivery and stabilize the massive fluctuations in hormone levels following the birth of a child.

Sometimes the symptoms continue after the two week “baby blues” time frame, and are accompanied by additional challenges. Somewhere between 10% to 17% of new mothers may experience postpartum depression. They have to cope with all the previous symptoms plus feelings of vulnerability, depression, low self-esteem, hopelessness, decreased levels of daily functioning and severe mood swings. These women have a difficult journey, but they are not crazy.

Unreasonable fears, panic attacks, obsessions about cleanliness and germs, and visions of finding herself unable to stop something bad from happening to her baby may indicate a more severe postpartum mood disorder. Postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder includes these symptoms along with all the previous ones. The level of intensity is amplified, but women with this disorder are still considered sane.

What about the women who get sensationalized on the news, the ones who think their babies are from the devil? We’ve all heard stories about new mothers who think they were told to hurt themselves or their babies. Can these women be sane?

This is the most severe end of the postpartum mood disorder spectrum, and where the break in sanity occurs. Fortunately, only 1 or 2 out of every thousand postpartum women will go through this disorder. Women with postpartum psychosis experience dangerious delusions, often in conjunction with visual and auditory hallucinations. They require immediate hospitalization in order to receive the necessary medical attention, and are not safe to care for their babies until the disorder is properly treated.

I like to put it this way: Anytime a new mom is worried about the well being of herself and her child, she is probably still sane. After all, it takes a significant level of self awareness to be concerned about one’s thoughts and feelings. Rather than judging or ostracizing new mothers with postpartum mood disorders, let’s make it easier to get help. Every symptom I’ve described is treatable, and resources are available now.

Tags: Mental Health