A local blogger whose work I like a lot, Marinka, recently wrote a post called “She Knows Now It Was Postpartum Depression,” in which she recounts the periods after the birth of her children, in which she was at times so deeply sad her thinking bordered on delusional. At one point, in a bargain she tried to cut with God, she even told him, “If you let me do this one thing right, if you let me feed my baby, I’ll accept breast cancer in 15 years and I won’t seek treatment.”
Awareness and knowledge of postpartum depression, and differences between that and normal new mom stress, are so important I think that every pregnant mom should make a point of reading up on it—and do it again a month or two after the birth.
I can’t think of a better place to start than with the blog Postpartum Progress, which published Marinka’s essay and was a real discovery to me. Founded by Katherine Stone, Postpartum Progress is regularly updated with smart and helpful posts about postpartum depression and the general topic of mental health, and has lots of good backgrounders. Perusing the blog, I liked every single post I came across, the latest being a roundup of different types of psychotherapy treatment.
So pass the word about Postpartum Progress, and consider this: If you had a friend who seemed like she might be suffering from postpartum depression, what would you do?
Eric Messinger is Editor of New York Family. He can be reached at [email protected]
