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Depressed New Mums Too Scared to Seek Help
Almost a third of new mothers experiencing postnatal depression do not seek medical advice from their doctor, research has shown. Fear that their parenting ability will be questioned by social services and concerns that they are letting their loved ones down are leading many women to suffer in silence.
The poll of more than 700 mothers also found that pressure to be a perfect parent and to breastfeed is contributing to or even triggering the illness. Those who were questioned said the main reason they did not speak to a GP was because they did not believe their symptoms were bad enough to warrant getting medical help. A further 74 per cent were worried that having a diagnosis would raise concerns about their ability to care for their child and 72 per cent felt like they were ‘letting their family down’ by getting ill. Postnatal depression affects up to 15 per cent of women in the UK and is similar to other depressive illnesses. The main symptoms are feelings of unhappiness, poor appetite, loss of libido, insomnia, and low self-esteem. It often starts within one or two months of giving birth. The survey taken by parenting website Mumsnet and ITV Lunchtime News also reported a number of factors that mothers thought contributed to postnatal depression. Sixty-five per cent of those questioned said that pressure to be the ‘perfect mother’ had made their illness worse, while 56 per cent said it was a bad or traumatic birth that triggered the depression. The expectation to breastfeed was cited by 48 per cent and the same proportion blamed the difficulty establishing breastfeeding. Pressure to bond with their baby and feel overwhelming love for them was cited by a further 46 per cent of mothers.
Mumsnet chief Justine Roberts said: ‘The stigma associated with mental health concerns is widely acknowledged, but it’s particularly concerning that some mothers avoid seeking medical help because of fears that official flags might be raised about their parenting ability.’ Aby Moore, 38, from Newbury, Berkshire, suffered in silence for six months after her daughter was born in March 2013. ‘I didn’t go to see my doctor until November 2013 and she seemed to think I’d had it since my daughter was born,’ she said. ‘I still take medication. I have time when I think “this is nonsense” and stop taking the medication then the feelings come back. I never thought I would be the type of person that would get postnatal depression. I lost all my self-confidence. ‘You think it’s normal and that everyone has baby blues but when I was crying up to seven times a day I thought, “this is not just normal”.’ Written By Tammy Hughes Retrieved From:
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