The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
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Support the inclusion of Certified Professional Midwives in Medicaid and health care reform. Where's the Birth Plan? by Jennifer Block - Midwifery-style care saves money and provides excellence for the new family--a great two for one proposal! She clearly points out how the more humane style of care provided by midwives not only saves money, but also saves lives. A new economic analysis forecasts savings of $9.1 billion per year if 10 percent of women planned to deliver out of hospital with midwives. The
Debate on Healthcare Policy Reform by Faith Gibson, a healthcare historian
and policy theoretician
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Humiliation - If you had a birth experience
that involved humiliation, please contact research Belinda Diamond about
her research project, "Humiliation in the Medical Setting and Its Relationship
to PTSD". The e-mail domain is yahoo.com, and her username is diamondbelinda.
Please make sure to put the words "birth trauma" in the subject line.
Postpartum depression may be caused by a variety of factors, but
nurturing the mother can only help! It's very important to realize
that this does not always mean "taking care of the baby so the mom can
rest". The mom's strongest instincts are going to be nurtured if
she is supported in caring for her own child. Obviously, if the mother
is unable to connect with the baby during some periods of time, someone
else may need to be caring for the baby. But taking over the baby's
care can worsen a mother's feeling of inadequacy.
A fabulous book - MOTHER NURTURE - A Mother's Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships
Mother Nurture offers
One of my very wise clients said that when she started to feel any kind
of postpartum blues, she would then refocus on her children and bring the
family circle closer together. This seems like a very good first
remedy.
This study concludes that omega-3 fatty acids are less helpful than supportive psychotherapy, but if you aren't able to get supportive psychotherapy, the omega-3 fatty acids may still be a good idea. And we know they're good for baby's brain development.
Omega-3 fatty
acids and supportive psychotherapy for perinatal depression: a randomized
placebo-controlled study.
Freeman MP, Davis M, Sinha P, Wisner KL, Hibbeln JR, Gelenberg AJ.
J Affect Disord. 2008 Sep;110(1-2):142-8. Epub 2008 Feb 21.
CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference between omega-3 fatty
acids and placebo in this study in which all participants received supportive
psychotherapy. The manualized supportive psychotherapy warrants further
study. The low intake of dietary omega-3 fatty acids among participants
is of concern, in consideration of the widely established health advantages
in utero and in infants.
A
new paradigm for depression in new mothers: the central role of inflammation
and how breastfeeding and anti-inflammatory treatments protect maternal
mental health
Kathleen Kendall-Tackett
International Breastfeeding Journal 2007, 2:6
doi:10.1186/1746-4358-2-6
Breastfeeding fights depression
08 May 2007
International Breastfeeding Journal 2007; 2: 6
MedWire News: Breastfeeding can help new mothers fight depression, research shows.
Kathleen Kendal-Tackett (University of New Hampshire) says that depression is common among new mothers, and affects anywhere from 10 percent to 20 percent of postpartum women.
"Since depression has devastating effects on mother and baby, it's vital that it be identified and treated promptly," she adds.
Kendal-Tackett says that new mothers experience an increase in inflammation due to high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Common experiences associated with new motherhood such as disturbed sleep and postpartum pain can also act as stresses that cause pro-inflammatory levels to rise, she says.
Breastfeeding can reduce women's stress levels so that their inflammatory response systems remain inactive. This then reduces their risk of depression.
But Kendal-Tackett notes this is only true when breastfeeding is "going well."
"When breastfeeding is not going well, particularly if there is pain, it becomes a trigger to depression rather than something that lessens the risk."
She concludes: "Mother's mental health is yet another reason to intervene
quickly
when breastfeeding difficulties arise."
Dietary
folate and vitamins B(12), B(6), and B(2) intake and the risk of postpartum
depression in Japan: The Osaka Maternal and Child Health Study.
Miyake Y, Sasaki S, Tanaka K, Yokoyama T, Ohya Y, Fukushima W, Saito
K, Ohfuji S, Kiyohara C, Hirota Y; The Osaka Maternal and Child Health
Study Group.
J Affect Disord. 2006 Jun 29
CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that moderate consumption of riboflavin
may be protective against postpartum depression.
Postpartum treatment key for depression: study - Jul 6/05 -- The key to preventing postpartum depression may be individual support provided after birth by a health professional and tailored to a mother's needs, says a University of Toronto researcher.
"The evidence suggests postpartum depression may be preventable, says Dennis. In analyzing the prevention strategies used, Dennis found an overall 19 per cent reduction in postpartum depression. Individual assessment and intensive support provided by a health professional to at-risk women after they give birth was the most successful approach to preventing postpartum depression; group-based strategies weren't as effective. Risk factors for postpartum depression include past psychiatric history, a significant number of life stressors and lack of support."
Contact: Cindy-Lee Dennis, Faculty of Nursing, (416) 946-8608; e-mail: cindylee.dennis@utoronto.ca
Psychosocial
and psychological interventions for prevention of postnatal depression:
systematic review.
Dennis CL.
BMJ. 2005 Jul 2;331(7507):15.
CONCLUSIONS: Diverse psychosocial or psychological interventions do
not significantly reduce the number of women who develop postnatal depression.
The most promising intervention is the provision of intensive, professionally
based postpartum support.
Evaluation
of the Edinburgh Post Natal Depression Scale using Rasch analysis.
Pallant JF, Miller RL, Tennant A.
BMC Psychiatry. 2006 Jun 12;6:28.
Psychological
interventions fail to prevent postnatal depression - " . . . intensive
postpartum support provided by a healthcare professional showed a clear
preventive effect."
Baby
Blues Mood Remedy from Cascade
Knowledge
Path: Postpartum Depression has been compiled by the Maternal and Child
Health (MCH) Library at Georgetown University.
Beck Depression
Inventory - a sytem of assessing level of depression that is considered
much more accurate than the Edinburgh PDS.
Purchase
the BDI-II from the publisher (Harcourt Assessment)
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
Beyond the Blues by Pec Indman
EdD, MFT is a concise and up-to-date book for women needing help with prenatal
(pregnancy) and postpartum depression and anxiety.
Solace For Mothers,
An Online Community For Healing Birth Trauma is for women who have
experienced trauma around the process of giving birth. For these women,
giving birth has left them feeling deeply disappointed, traumatized, or
even violated. We want these women to know that they are not alone,
that birth trauma is very real, and that other women have had similar experiences
and feelings. We have created an online community as a place for
women to begin or continue their healing journey.
Postpartum Distress Support
from Postpartum Education for Parents in Santa Barbara.
PRENATAL ?
POSTPARTUM 'BLUES', DEPRESSION, STRESS ? ANXIETY from radiantmother.com
PSI: Postpartum Support International
(They used to be Depression
after Delivery)
The Postpartum Depression Center of
San Antonio
Tips for
Addressing the Baby Blues by Lois V. Nightingale, Ph.D.
Notes from a Talk on Postpartum Depression
Sacred Window Ayurveda for Mothers
and Children, where You May Discover How to Avoid Depression and
Colic And How to Enjoy Profound Rejuvenation!
This
study by Pauline Dillard, M.S., focused on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) differences between women who have had cesarean sections versus
those who have had natural childbirth.
Women are encouraged to e-mail
a letter of hope and recovery to add to this collection. Thank you!
From an author: "I am seeking women who've experienced postpartum
depression to participate in a book to help mothers recover. This
book is not from medical professionals, but from "everyday" mothers who've
"been there." Details are at www.anewdayinc.net
Postpartum Depression (with excerpts from a radio interview) [Medscape registration is free]
Postpartum
Depression [May, 2002] [Medscape registration is free]
PSI: Postpartum Support International
What Does Safe
Motherhood Mean? - Safe Motherhood in the USA means that no woman should
die or be harmed by pregnancy or birth. from Safe
Motherhood Initiatives-USA
Emotional
Recovery After Birth and Postpartum
Depression – Signs and Symptoms - a homeopathic approach
Pregnancy
blues worsen with age [10/12/04] - Older mothers are more anxious
during their pregnancy and less likely to have the social support younger
mothers enjoy, a study has found. But they are also less starry-eyed about
parenthood, and will perhaps make better mothers for it.
Need Advice
or Assistance? Want to Join a Postpartum Support Group??
Postnatal Depression
or Childbirth Trauma? - For some women, childbirth has all the characteristics
we associate with trauma. Professionals should abandon the easy assumption
that childbirth is not traumatic just because it is within the normal range
of experience, and adjust their treatment accordingly.
Action On Puerperal
Psychosis (APP) from the University
of Birmingham
The Effect of Birth Experience on Postpartum Depression by Michelle A. Bland
The
Effect of Birth Experience on Postpartum Depression: A Follow-Up Study
by Michelle A. Bland
Puerperal
Psychosis/Postnatal Depression
The Postpartum Stress Center
in Rosemont, Pennsylvania - Clinical Director is Karen Kleiman, MSW, author
of "This Isn't What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression"
This brief article on Deep
Tissue Vaginal Massage has some really good information for women experiencing
physical or emotional pain in their genitals after birth.
The
Mystery of Postpartum Depression - By Pamela Gerhardt, Washington
Post, Tuesday, March 14, 2000
Great set of links about birth-related
psychology and emotions
Traumatic birth as Legal
Rape by sheila stubbs
Not
a happy birthday - Threatened, intimidated, bullied, violated: this
is hospital birth as many mothers experience it. Amity Reed reports on
the little-recognised crime of birth rape.
See also: Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder
Yahoo! group ptsdafterchildbirth
for women who have gone through traumatic births.
Yahoo! group BirthTraumaSupportGroup
- A safe place for women who have had trauma during childbirth.
Solace For Mothers,
An Online Community For Healing Birth Trauma is for women who have
experienced trauma around the process of giving birth. For these women,
giving birth has left them feeling deeply disappointed, traumatized, or
even violated. We want these women to know that they are not alone,
that birth trauma is very real, and that other women have had similar experiences
and feelings. We have created an online community as a place for
women to begin or continue their healing journey.
The Pink Kit folks offer an informational CD
for women who experienced trauma from giving birth (TABS):
Trauma and Birth Stress - PTSD After
Childbirth
PTSD After
Childbirth Blog by Jodi Kluchar, who is a major activist in awareness
of PTSD after childbirth. She has published a number of related
articles.
The Birth Trauma
Association supports all women who have had a traumatic birth experience.
Bad times make for more accurate memories
"Pleasurable experiences are more fun to relive than negative ones, but a new study by psychologists at Harvard University reveals that memories of good times can be less accurate than those of bad times. Not only that, a person with a positive memory is more likely to be more confident of her or his distorted memory than someone who has a negative memory of the same event. "
Research by Elizabeth Kensinger at Harvard.
See also: Effects of Birth Practices on
Breastfeeding
Do you think there is a correlation between problems with being able
breastfeed and traumatic birth/PTSD? For me, breastfeeding would trigger
a replay of the birth experience. I dreaded and avoided breastfeeding,
or at least as much as the mother and newborn can avoid a hungry infant.
I was not able to establish a good supply, and I've even wondered if this
is hormonal, specific to PTSD, somehow.
Oxytocin is the hormone that is common to all of our reproductive functions: sexual arousal/intercourse; labor and birth; breastfeeding. A trauma in any one of these areas could result in an aversion to increasing levels of this hormone which accompany any of these functions. This could lead to an anxiety that increases adrenaline, which inhibits lactation, so . . . yes, PTSD could cause breastfeeding problems.
This is similar to one of the mechanisms proposed for the
relationship between inductions and autism:
Childbirth and Narratives: How Do Mothers Deal with Their Child's Birth?
by Paola Di Blasio and Chiara Ionio
JOPPPAH 17(2), Winter, 2002, p. 143
"ABSTRACT: This research focuses on post traumatic stress disorders
which arise after childbirth and adds to the literature on psychological
post partum diseases. The hypothesis of this study was that psychological
expression of negative emotions could reduce the occurrence of stress symptoms
after labour and delivery. A group of 64 women with a healthy pregnancy
was examined. Half of them were asked to express their emotion experienced
during labour and delivery through a written account. The results
indicated a significant difference in the number of post traumatic stress
symptoms between the two groups, underlining the positive effect of the
emotional disclosure."
Integrating
A Difficult Birth from Karen
Melton's site
What if Your Homebirth Doesn't Happen at Home?
Grief within
the Miracle Society for Women - This society has been created to give
support and compassion to women who feel they have experienced trauma and
abuse at the hands of professionals during the birth of their child or
children. . . . If you feel any regret, pain, feelings of humiliation,
visions of moments in birth that you cringe to remember but can't seem
to forget...then you are in the right place.
I have just received a copy of a book titled, "Songs
of the Womb; Healing the wounded mother". I have only read the intro
and 1st chapter so far, but it is quite good.
"Recovery from Childbirth: An Emotional Healing" by Lynn Madsen - I
give it to all my 2nd time or more moms if they even hint that they were
less than totally happy with their prior birth experiences. [Ed:
I'm not sure whether there was ever a book by this title, but there is
a book by Lynn Madsen called
Nancy Wainer is occasionally offering workshops on "Grieving and Healing
After a Disappointing, Upsetting, or Traumatic Birth Experience"
Psychotherapy
Services for the Childbearing Year - Linda Cozzolino, M.Ed., CPM -
Specializing in counseling for:
BirthWorks
Reading List - books to help women overcome the negative effects a
difficult past can have on pregnancy and birth
See this recounting of
Six Birth Stories for a true testimonial of overcoming birth trauma.
The VBAC Companion by Diana Korte has a section on dealing
with previous traumatic births.
Cesarean Art - for all the scarred
mothers
Pregnant Feelings by Rahima Baldwin (and a friend?)
The book is 1994: Bergin ? Garvey
Contact (781) 449-2490 for more information.
Survivors of
childhood abuse, now preparing for birth and parenting.
Women or couples
with traumatic previous birth experiences.
Women or couples
with high levels of fear of childbirth and/or parenting.
Transformation Through Birth by Claudia Panuthos
Birth Counselors
What is a Birth Counsellor?
A Birth Counsellor is a counsellor who is well-versed in the area of birth. The Birth Counsellor helps women and their families in three ways:
For more information, please email birthcounsellingskills@bc.sympatico.ca,
or call: 1-800-755-3377
I've been wondering about resolving my own birth experiences. Is there anyone out there who has actually done it and could explain the process they took to do that? I know I need to do it, but I'm not quite sure where to start. Any suggestions?
Keeping journal of your thoughts is one thing. Writing letters (to mail or not) to everyone including yourself in which you share your feelings about the birth.
A few books I like:
Attend a Birth Works class if you are planning another pregnancy or if you are pregnant.
If your emotions about your birth seem to be overwhelming- consuming
you nearly every moment of the day, something that can be helpful is to
begin to confine those feelings and thoughts to certain parts of the day.
For example, say to yourself, you can worrying and think about this all
day, EXCEPT from 9am- 11am. That's when I am going to think about different
stuff, do other things. If the thoughts start creeping in, you say, "No,
I'm not going to think about that now, that's for later". Then, as time
goes on, you expand your "clear" times, and shrink your grief time. This
is at a pace that is right for you. It may feel good to feel that you have
some control over your emotions. Eventually you can put them in a small
box and deal with them as you need to.
When a bad birth haunts you by Sheila Kitzinger
Notes from Sheila Kitzinger Talk - "Crisis in
the Perinatal Period".
I can't seem to help HATING myself for being "Stupid enough, at my age",
to prevent/stop this from happening to me.
Has anyone else tried to channel these feeling into something else?
Something that may alleviate feelings like this? I have been so angry
for many years concerning my births that I want to stand at the hospital
entrance and tell birthing Mom's that there is a better way; Inside lies
danger! Instead, I am a student midwife and educate everyone I can
on hospital and medical interventions. I think if I could just save
one woman and child from a horrid birth it would atone for mine.
I always wished someone had told me how it really was BEFORE I gave birth.
Now I make sure I tell who ever will listen. Don't get me wrong,
I don't stand at the mall next to the Salvation Army guy with his ringing
bell, stopping shoppers to tell them of the horrors of medicalized childbirth,
but those who seem interested in my studies and those who are eager to
talk of their own pregnancies open up a perfect window of opportunity!
Post questions or answers to the "Dear Midwife' forum at hdw4@msn.com
For a response from professionals that is particularly sensitive to the emotional issues around childbirth, check out the "Association for Pre- ? Perinatal Psychology ? Health (APPPAH).
You can ask questions from The Midwife Pro (Midge Jolly, LM, CPM) (formerly at Moms Online - oxygen.com)
The obgyn.net Women's Health Forum
There are also some midwives and doctors reading misc.kids.pregnancy who occasionally respond about specific cases.
There are other references at Web Florida - Women and Their Health and T-net inc.
On-Line Medical Advice - this is an extensive meta list!
There are also some women's forums where you might be able to get information from other parents:
Labor of Love Message
Boards
We have it worked into our 2-3 week visit to ask similar questions:
"Do you have any questions about what happened at your birth? How did you
feel about your birth experience in general? What could we have done to
improved our services?..." This is a good time to get initial impressions
and clear up any technical misunderstandings about what really happened
during a birth, but I think a mom's overall feelings about a birth take
much, much longer to process. If the birth has been traumatic the mother
is probably working out her feelings about it long after our last official
contact with her.
Rather than ask the mother specific questions about the birth, I learned
to do a birth review where I just guide the mother to tell me the whole
story of the birth, as if I hadn't been there. It's amazing some of the
feelings that come up when she has control of the story and where it goes.
Some moms end up dealing with a lot more than they expected. Especially for a hospital transport, the drama doesn't help, even when the transport was warranted. Even unmedicated vaginal births can be a lot to process afterwards. Sometimes "tincture of time" is the best remedy. AND listening to her, so that she gets to tell her story (over and over is great) in order to make meaning out of it.
Sometimes EMDR is helpful; I don't need to see someone more than a half-dozen or so times for that, if that is their preference. Sometimes, "counseling" sounds like it will be traumatic in itself. It really involves what you are already doing - listening with respect. I usually see the process as offering a doula to the feelings or thoughts. [Ed: The August, 2007, issue of the Birth Trauma Association newsletter has a great piece about EMDR on page 2.]
can also teach "mindfulness based stress management" techniques. This can be helpful in sitting WITH the disappointment, regret, sadness, guilt, or whatever until that can be processed. Sometimes the feelings tie in with other life events that moms don't even realize are re-surfacing until they feel "into" the feelings and see what's there. Once again, it's really similar to birthing - riding the feeling as you would a contraction. (Since we are still paying off my student loan - I'm reluctant to say that my birth work has been at least as valuable as my masters - reluctant to say it to my husband anyway...) You are probably already doing that for her. Letting her FEEL what she is feeling, and not pushing it away is often the best remedy. Often then it will dissipate on its own with time. And your being patient while she does that is the gift.
Comments by Sharon Storton, MA,
MFTI, IBCLC
Here are some resources
in the Silicon Valley area.
STAR is a profoundly transformative 10-day personal growth retreat, a carefully structured program of accelerated self-healing and transformation.
Resource Directory
Of Practitioners and Programs in Pre- ? Perinatal Psychology
? Health - Year 2001
I have heard that Phyllis Klaus offers phone counseling sessions for
birth trauma. (She's one of the founders of Doulas of North America).
510-559-8000, phyllisklaus@aol.com
I was helped by EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
Basically, by moving your eyes back and forth you can stimulate your brain
to integrate right brain and left brain activity, which helps process memories.
You can doEMDR while confronting highly emotional memories and it helps
to release some of the emotion. Also, some counselors do EFT
or Emotional Freedom Technique which has a similar philosophy to accupuncture,
except that you just apply pressure with your finger tips. The idea
is that we are electrical as well as chemical and strong emotions cause
electrical disturbances in the body. Applying EFT while saying affirmations
or working through the trauma can release a great deal of emotion. I think
massage, prayer, yoga, meditation are all wonderful -- anything that helps
the nervous system relax. I think the major challenge for recovery
is that it is so hard for mothers to find the time/money to take care of
themselves!!!!!
Shekinah
Birthing offers EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUES: EFT TELECLASSES FOR BIRTH
TRAUMA
It can be difficult to find a mental health professional who understands the issues of birth trauma. It is essential to avoid working with someone who will deny that you were harmed by a negative birth experience.
Here are some resources that might be helpful:
Finding a Therapist
Outside the San Francisco Bay Area
DrScore is a web site that collects
and displays ratings of doctors. You can contribute your ratings
or read others' ratings.
RateMDs.com is changing the
way the world looks at medicine by providing patients with the unique opportunity
to rate and read about their doctors.
Unhappy
With Your Maternity Care? File a Complaint! from Citizens
for Midwifery
Privacy concerns may prevent a professional midwife or doula from filing
a complaint about the quality of care at a birth, or even a hostile or
punitive attitude towards a homebirth transport. One option is for
the birth professional to write a letter of complaint and then have her
client sign it.
In a situation where the parents are concerned about the care they were
or are being provided I suggest speaking with the Charge Nurse, hospital
Ombudsman, hospital chaplain, Head of the department, (oB or Peds) and
also out in the wider world. The nursing Board and the California Medical
board also have mechanisms of action to complain about care given.
How
Complaints Are Handled from the Medical Board of California
Childbirth
- The Rights of Childbearing Women from the
Boston Women's Health Book Collective, Inc., reposted with permission
from Childbirth
Connection
It is so important to provide feedback to your care providers - how else will they ever learn what helped and what hindered your birth experience?
I know it can be incredibly hard to look back on a difficult birth experience. Who really wants to give another second's worth of energy to thinking about the physical trauma, the emotional trauma, the betrayal by seemingly benevolent care providers? Some women feel violated on every level - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Writing letters of complaint may even feel like a perpetuation of the trauma, much as victims of stranger assault can feel victimized by having to testify against their assailant.
So . . . why bother?
The answer is simple. You're doing it for your sisters, your cousins, your daughters, your nieces, and your eventual grand-daughters. If we don't start working now to change the system, your loved ones are likely to have the same horrible experience when they're ready to give birth.
At the very least, simply write a letter expressing your disappointment that your experience was so different from what you were led to expect.
And don't forget to write thank-you letters to the care providers who treated you well! I especially like to address the letters to an entire practice or to the entire nursing staff, giving honorable mention to those who deserve it. When it's addressed to multiple people, it's often posted in an employee lounge or somewhere where everyone will see it and wish they'd been nice enough to be mentioned. If you address it just to the nice people, they might be reluctant to show it about or post it publicly.
If somebody had walked up to you on the street and done this, you can
bet they'd be interested in pressing charges; being a doctor doesn't give
somebody permission to assault you any more than a stranger on the street.
In addition to writing a letter of "concern" to the relevant provider, it is essential that you send copies to public boards and medical societies. This is important because it's the only way to make sure the individual practitioner will ever have to worry about any consequences. And, perhaps more importantly, it will help put the fear of god/dess into every other OB who realizes that women really, really don't like having their bodies and their lives messed with against their will.
Please, do use your energy to write letters and to help educate other
women in the e-mail lists, Web forums and Usenet newsgroups instead of
taking it out on yourself or your loved ones!
How to File a Complaint in California
How to Respond to Bad Hospital Treatment
Writing Letters to Caregivers About Your Birth
Experience
These people DO investigate pt complaints. Complaints are taken from any one who wishes to file one, and can be made without giving your name. It is best to give the pt name and date of stay as well as what happened that you think was wrong.
Not all complaints result in a 'punishment'. However, the hospital is put through a 'ringer' every time the JC comes in and the hospital will often 'fix' the problem before the JC comes in and destroy the evidence. This makes it harder top punish, but makes it easier for the next pt.
Not all hospitals are accredited, and a simple call to the hospital
administration receptionist will let you know if they are or not.
Make sure you have the woman's permission before using her name in
a complaint.
There is a great book by Christopher Norwood "How To Avoid A Cesarean Section" wherein the author suggests what she believes an effective alternative to suing is sending "detailed, written complaints to administration of the hospital, its chairman of obstetrics, the local and state health departments, and to the professional society regulating obstetricians in your area." She suggests that in the end the doctor will feel more pressure to rethink his cesarean decisions than if he/she was sued.
This is a gentle, forthright book about vaginal birthing that is not
outdated even though written in 1987.
Mom Writes Letter to OBs Who Did Unnecessary
Cesareans
One of my favorite mild preventives or treatments for PPD is the herb,
Blessed Thistle. I like the non-alcoholic version from Tri-Light
herbs; it's slightly sweet and can be used as a sweetener in tea if moms
find it too sweet to take directly. It has the bonus of being a galactagogue,
stimulating milk production. It's worked wonders for second-time
moms who had PPD and difficulty breastfeeding a first baby. Motherwort
may also work wonders for helping to induce a more mellow mood.
Renee Smith's music is
a wonderful combination of more traditional lullaby styles with more nurturing
lyrics. My personal favorite is her Angels
? Mermaids CD, with her Lullabies
For My Little Angels a very close second. Her Seeds
? Songs To Make 'em Grow is a wonderful collection for "older children",
i.e. toddlers and pre-schoolers, not to mention their parents! I
don't know what it is about this music, but it always makes me so happy!
Cheaper than therapy and lots more fun; I call it my "audio prozac".
Ellen Roos
- Passion Flower
Music - Songs that see and stir, love and forgive, lift, bless and
free! Her first album is Lavender
and Morning Sun.
Natural Progesterone for Post-partum Depression
and PMS Psychosis
Counseling As Effective As Prozac for Postpartum
Depression
Unnecessary
Cesarean with General Anesthesia resulting in severe postpartum depression
Jenny's Tale - Saga of a Birth Gone Wrong
or Yes, It Can Happen To You
Jenny Strikes Back - A Set of Letters and a Meeting
about the Unnecessary Cesarean
I went to hear Anne Dunwald (?) speak a few years ago. She's got a book out now available through Cascade's book catalog I believe. She's a psychologist who specializes in women's concerns and does lots of counseling for post partum depression. From what I remember post partum psychosis involves major things like religious or satanic beliefs that are irrational, such as 'my baby was the devil and an angel told me to kill it' type of hallucinating AND the woman is acting on such beliefs. Unless PPD has progressed to acting upon thoughts of harming herself or her baby, the speaker did not recommend hospitalization.
I've known a mother with severe PPD. A hospital birth experience made
her remember being raped many years before and she believed that triggered
her PPD. It is true that PPD is more common in women who've had interventive
births. Also much more common in women with a history of depression. DHA
found in long chain omega-3 fatty acids is effective in prevention of PPD
according to researchers at the Children's Nutrition Research Center however
their studies are not complete. DHA is found in fish oils, cold water fish,
flaxseed oil, carrots, spinach, and some supplements. I might be able to
copy the tape I have of Anne Dunwald's speech if you need it. Most all
antidepressants can be safely taken by breastfeeding mothers. St. John's
Wort might also be tried.
Child sexual abuse that has been buried deep in the psyche can sometimes be brought up during the powerful physical and emotional feelings in labor and birth. This also explains the "type a " personality traits of wanting to be perfect. This energy is used to keep those nasty memories at bay sometimes. Sexual abuse is so rampant that I'm more likely to believe it has occurred in a woman's past than not these days.
This would be my first suspicion with a woman suffering this type of
psychotic episode.
New - online support group - BirthTraumaSupport
at egroups.com
Depression After Delivery
P.O. Box 1282
Morrisville, PA 19067
(215)295-3994
1-800-944-4773 (machine only).
Postpartum Adjustment Support Services(PASS-CAN)
Canadian Resource
(905)844-9009
Postpartum Support Int'l.
927 N. Kellogg Ave.
Santa Barbara, CA.
(805) 967-7636
National Anxiety Foundation
(for both Professional referral list and information resource)
1-800-755-1576
National Institute of Mental Health
Hot Line about Panic
With info on support groups
1-800 64-PANIC
For information about "safe" anti-depressants postpartum: Medical Professional
Involved in Relevant Research on PPD. MD who is known for her research
on the use of Medication for PPD during breastfeeding. She is a good resource
about Meds.
DR. KATHERINE WISNER
Dir.of women's services mood disorders program
Case Western Reserve University
11400 Euclid Ave. Suite #200
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
(216) 721-4600
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