Why do you suffer from postpartum depression? Postpartum depression is the result of a combination of physical and emotional factors. These factors may include hormonal changes, lack of sleep, increased stress, and more. While the exact cause of postpartum depression is unknown, it is thought to be the result of a combination of physical and emotional factors. These factors may include hormonal changes, lack of sleep, increased stress, and more. Risk factors include postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, family history of depression, psychological stress, birth complications, and lack of support. Changes in hormone levels, a drop in estrogen and progesterone after childbirth, can make it difficult for mothers to control their emotions and become depressed. What are the states of postpartum depression, and how can we treat and care for mothers suffering from postpartum depression? In order to prevent problems before they happen, how can we prevent pregnant mothers from suffering from postpartum depression? Let's take a look together!

What is postpartum depression
Postpartum depression, also known as postpartum depression, refers to the common occurrence of postpartum depression after giving birth to a child, mainly caused by physical and psychological factors. Symptoms of postpartum depression include tension, doubt, guilt, and fear. Some women with severe symptoms experience extreme thoughts or behaviors such as hopelessness, running away from home, harming children, or suicide.
The timing of postpartum depression varies from person to person:
1. The continuation of prenatal depression. Some mothers suffer from depression before giving birth, and the depression has not been resolved after giving birth.
2. Postpartum depression. Some mothers do not have depression before giving birth, but after giving birth, due to the imbalance of estrogen levels in the body, depression such as anxiety and irritability will appear.
3. Periodic depression. Some women experience postpartum depression weeks or even months after giving birth. They start out really enjoying babysitting, but then gradually become more and more frustrated until severe symptoms develop.
It's important to note that postpartum depression isn't exactly the same as postpartum blues. Postpartum blues begin two or three days after giving birth. Mothers are sad and want to cry. They worry about the baby and themselves, are emotionally stressed and tired. Postpartum blues go away in a short period of time, but postpartum depression requires conditioning. Severely depressed mothers should also seek help from a psychiatrist or use medication.

Causes of postpartum depression
Reason 1: Influence of endocrine changes.
In the later stages of pregnancy, the estrogen progesterone, corticosteroid, and thyroxine in pregnant women also increase to varying degrees. Pregnant women will feel happy and happy, but after the child is born, these hormones drop rapidly, causing endocrine changes in the body, resulting in Depressive symptoms.
Reason 2: The mother or baby is sick.
Extreme stress from illness can trigger depression. Premature birth, disease or comorbidities in the puerperium bring great stress to mothers and are prone to induce postpartum depression. The sick baby brings a psychological burden to the new mother and leads to depression.
Reason 3: Family pressure.
The husband or other relatives are dissatisfied with the gender of the child, and the husband's poor performance can easily bring pressure and grievance to the mother's emotions.
Reason 4: Poor sleep.
Many mothers take care of their children day and night, and are prone to grievances, irritability, and irritability.
Reason 5: Economic reasons.
Some families may not be financially wealthy and worry about life problems after giving birth, leading to depression.
Reason 6: Psychosocial factors.
Some people are not mentally prepared to be mothers and get pregnant in a hurry. Once they become mothers, they get overwhelmed, which is both new and scary. Especially the young people born in the 1980s, they are not mature in their psychological age, they are still children, and they are still coquettish in front of their parents. Suddenly taking on the responsibility of being a mother can make them uncomfortable and prone to psychological imbalances. Others suffer from depression before giving birth and are more likely to relapse after giving birth.
Although postpartum depression is very common - some experts estimate that about 50% to 90% of women will experience postpartum depression of varying degrees, and most women will resolve on their own after a period of time, but some serious ones that do not recover on their own require Doctor's help. Some mothers may even suffer from postpartum psychosis soon, so if you find that your mother has severe symptoms of postpartum depression, be sure to recommend her to a specialist for consultation and treatment.

Symptoms of postpartum depression
Postpartum depression is characterized by low mood, with the patient being very sad, distressed, sighing, and even crying a lot; lack of happiness, with the patient claiming to be unhappy, nothing to cheer them up, etc.
Postpartum depression Symptom 1: Depressed mood. The patient looks sad, has a depressed expression, sighs, and even often weeps.
Postpartum depression Symptom 2: Lack of happiness. Patients claim to be unhappy and nothing can make them happy.
Postpartum depression Symptom 3: Fatigue. After giving birth, most mothers feel very weak, tired, lack of energy, and can't even take care of the baby. They often feel that they are useless people.
Postpartum depression Symptom 4: Slow speech, thinking or movement. Depressed patients often speak slowly or answer simply, it takes a long time to think and answer questions, and simple dressing movements are also slow, and some patients even suffer from memory loss.
Postpartum depression Symptom 5: Changes in appetite. Many patients eat less, often refuse or eat only a little, even very tasty meals, and lose weight.
Postpartum depression Symptom 6: Sleep disturbance. Depressed patients are often accompanied by difficulty falling asleep, anxiety or waking up early, and it is difficult to go back to sleep after waking up.
Postpartum depression Symptom 7: Physical discomfort. Frequent headaches and low back pain, weakness of limbs, abdominal distension and constipation, nausea and vomiting, dry mouth, bitterness in mouth, etc. Although after various examinations and treatments, there are neither corresponding positive results nor symptoms relieved.
Postpartum depression Symptom 8: Emotional agitation. Some patients sometimes show extreme restlessness, nervousness, overwhelm, walking back and forth, etc.
Postpartum depression Symptom 9: Low libido. No interest in sex.
Postpartum depression Symptom 10: Guilt and guilt. Patients often think that their incompetence and negligence have made mistakes, are willing to be punished, and think that they are not good.
Postpartum depression Symptom 11: Feelings of helplessness, world-weariness and hopelessness. Some patients feel that their family and social status has been lost because of their "faults" and cannot reverse this situation, and feel hopeless and helpless. They thought of suicide to escape pain and despair.

Treatment of postpartum depression
Method 1: Eat lightly and pay attention to rest. Eat a light, nutritious diet, taking care of a newborn can make you exhausted, and sleepless nights can easily lead to depression. To combat fatigue and depression, you also have to get good rest, so new mothers should try to napping as little as possible while their baby is resting. Don't surf the Internet to browse Weibo or do other things. You should hurry up and take a nap. Even if you just close your eyes and take a break, you can recover quickly.
Method 2: Moderate exercise and stay happy. Don't stay at home all the time. After the baby is a month old, you can take your baby outdoors to breathe fresh air, bask in the sun, do moderate exercise and do housework, so that happiness can be radiated from the inside out.
Method 3: Strengthen postpartum care to ensure maternal health. After giving birth, mothers should not be disheveled all day, but pay attention to postpartum care, such as taking good care of the wounds on the perineum or abdomen of the mother, avoiding puerperal infections, taking good care of the breasts, and preventing the occurrence of diseases such as mastitis. For mothers with abdominal distension, poor breastfeeding and other problems, they should go to the hospital for the guidance of professional doctors in time to relieve the pain of mothers.
Method 4: Give full play to family functions and care for new mothers more. After giving birth to a child, many family members will focus on the child, only immersed in the joy of adding a new baby, ignoring the psychological changes of the new mother. In fact, at this time, the family should give more care to the new mother. For example, an older family member can tell her some parenting experiences to prevent her from worrying, and usually help her to take care of her children, so that new mothers can have better rest and help their body and spirit recover better. New mothers must learn to actively seek out husbands and family members and help from friends. In fact, at this time, as long as you speak out, everyone will be willing to help you.
Method 5: Give up the idea of ​​perfectionism and do the best in everything. Before giving birth to a child, some women have to do everything by themselves. They can take care of the big and small things in the family by themselves, in an orderly manner, and everything is perfect. After the arrival of a new life, new mothers will take up more time and energy. , many things are not even in their plans, at this time, new mothers should try their best not to feel tired. Leave it to your family to do it and ask your family to help share some of it.
Method 6: Adjust yourself and give yourself some personal time. After giving birth, many mothers' values ​​will also change, and their expectations for themselves, their husbands, and their children will be closer to reality, and even their views on life will become more realistic than before. At this time, New mothers should learn to self-regulate and accept everything calmly. Sometimes when the pressure is too high, you can temporarily entrust your child to your family, and then do things you like to do, such as reading magazines, listening to music, hanging out with good friends, buying beautiful clothes, etc.
Method 7: Empathy between husband and wife to communicate and understand each other more. Husbands and wives should spend more time alone, understand and communicate more, understand each other's true thoughts and feelings more, and don't put their dissatisfaction with each other in their hearts. Holding it for a long time will not only affect their own emotions, but also affect the relationship between husband and wife. emotion.
Method 8: Simplify life and avoid change. Try not to make major life changes within a year of pregnancy and childbirth, as major life changes can create unnecessary stress and make life more difficult to cope with.
Method 9: Treat Depression Correctly, Don't Avoid Doctors. If your mother has symptoms of depression, seek medical attention in time. In addition to reasonable psychological treatment, you can also take antidepressant drugs under the guidance of a doctor. Get the disease under control as soon as possible.
Method 10: Communicate with other new mothers more. Learn about parenting classics and postpartum women's health care, and attend lectures organized by hospitals or medical infrastructure on promoting children's and women's health.

What should I do about postpartum depression?
How to get rid of postpartum depression
Many mothers have suffered from postpartum depression, but their families do not know it and think that women are especially hypocritical after childbirth. So, how to get out of this postpartum depression?
Postpartum mothers should pay attention to rest more and recover as soon as possible, so that they can properly perform outdoor sports and help relieve depression. Such as walking, such as doing yoga, such as going to the surrounding park to get some fresh air.
Families should take more responsibility for taking care of their children and establish a sense of family responsibility. Some husbands are used to the role of sons and are used to being cared for. After having a child, I still do not share housework and adapt to my father's work. Breastfeeding, changing diapers, wiping the bottom, taking a bath, coaxing to sleep, etc., are all left to the wife. Note that your wife is also a first-time mom. If you can't grow up, she will have to take care of two children at the same time. She will also be under a lot of pressure and burden. Life is full of difficulties, coupled with mental isolation and helplessness, and of course depression.
How to enlighten yourself with postpartum depression
Depressed patients themselves suffer enormous mental and even physical pain, which affects life therapy. Not only should family members come more, but women should also enlighten themselves more. So how to enlighten yourself with postpartum depression?
Most people with depression often feel that they are stupid and inferior to others, so they often blame themselves, self-confidence sometimes requires self-hinting, you should always suggest to yourself, make yourself feel very confident, don't make blind comparisons and make yourself and yourself difficult .
Spouse and family members should give more understanding, care and support, and jointly adopt a positive coping mode to avoid and reduce the influence of adverse stress as much as possible, so that the mother can maintain a good attitude. Often you can do more of the things you are interested in.
People with depression often experience sleep disturbances due to anxiety, irritability, and bad moods. When arranging the patient's daily life, family members try not to let the patient rest in bed during the day, and encourage the patient to do more outdoor activities. For those who have difficulty falling asleep or get up early, oral sleep aids can be prescribed by a doctor. In addition, it is necessary to create a good and comfortable sleeping environment for patients and promote patients to fall asleep.

How to care for postpartum depression
Postpartum depression Nursing Method 1: Start playing the role of mom as soon as you become pregnant
Through reading books, lectures, observation, etc., learn parenting knowledge and skills, such as breastfeeding, bathing, changing diapers, holding babies, etc., and at the same time have a certain understanding of the normal growth and development of children. Common pain prevention and safety precautions, be prepared for accidents.
Postpartum depressionNursingMethod 2: Learn more about postpartum mood changes
During pregnancy, consult a doctor with your husband, read relevant books or go to a maternity school to learn about postpartum depression, be mentally prepared, and actively deal with the unstable emotions that may occur after childbirth.
Postpartum depressionNursingMethod 3: Insist on exercising during pregnancy to improve physical fitness
Pregnant mothers who often sit in the office should participate in some suitable aerobic exercise every day to exercise cardiopulmonary function, and prepare physical reserves for childbirth, postpartum care and early postpartum recovery to adapt to a busy life and mother role.
Postpartum depressionNursingMethod 4: Do not disturb too many people after giving birth
After giving birth, it is necessary to ensure adequate sleep and rest. Excessive sleepiness directly affects the mood of new mothers. Minimize unnecessary interruptions, especially visits from friends and family. At the same time, the mental state of new mothers is very unstable, and various mental stimulations should be avoided, especially sensitive issues, such as the baby's gender, body shape recovery, and increased economic burden.
Postpartum depression Nursing Method 5: Enjoy exercise to the fullest
Do more exercise after giving birth, especially when you are in a bad mood. It's best to choose an exercise that allows you to fully enjoy yourself, which will help release bad emotions and lift your spirits.
Postpartum depressionNursingMethod 6: Help new mothers identify with the role of mother
New mothers should play the role of mothers, care for, love and touch their babies, communicate with them frequently, and actively breastfeed, so as to give full play to the communication and encouragement between mothers and eliminate the mentality that they think they are incompetent.
Postpartum depression Nursing Method 7: It is better to leave the child at the parent’s home
Confinement at the parents' house, familiar environment, beloved relatives, and undifferentiated living habits can help new mothers to resolve the helplessness of taking care of their babies, understand their physical pain and inner troubles, and often ask them about their pain and itching.
Postpartum depression Nursing Method 8: The husband needs help with childcare and housework
The husband tries to avoid going out, takes the initiative to bathe the baby, change diapers, and undertake other housework. The baby often cries at night, and the husband wants to live with the mother and son to help take care of it, so as to avoid the grievances of the new mother.
Postpartum depressionNursingMethod 9: Husbands should be more considerate of new mothers’ emotional changes
When the wife is depressed, the husband should give more sympathy, support, love and understanding, avoid quarrels, at the same time, actively share the housework and help take care of the baby more. Ask your wife for advice on diet and breastfeeding.
Postpartum depression Nursing Method 10: Don’t completely lock yourself at home
If you are not feeling well, you can take your baby out for a walk when the weather is nice and get some fresh air to make you feel better. It's best to stay with friends and get through the psychological crisis safely.
Postpartum depression Nursing Method 11: Timely release of negative emotions
When you are in a low mood, you can relieve it in some ways, such as going out to dinner or watching a movie with your husband, eating and chatting with good friends; don’t force yourself to do things you don’t want to do; when you are in a bad mood, force yourself to think happy things. Don't ask too much of yourself and lower your expectations; speak out about your concerns and ask others to help address them; discuss what it's like to have a baby with other new mothers; groom yourself to be beautiful; do physical exercise to get back in shape sooner ; Relax yourself often, for example by taking a nap or reading, taking a bath, listening to music, watching a movie or a fancy magazine.
Postpartum depression Nursing Method 12: Seek professional help if necessary
When depression persists or worsens, professional help, medication and psychotherapy and counseling should be sought as soon as possible to control the development of depression. With the right help, the joys of parenting can return, and depression is nothing but a nightmare.

Prevention of postpartum depression
For most affected moms, the symptoms of postpartum depression will resolve spontaneously after a period of time and everything will return to normal. About 70% of patients will recover within 1 year, but there is a 50% recurrence rate in another pregnancy. Although the drug treatment will improve after a period of time, it will still affect the physical and mental health of the new mother and the growth and development of the newborn. It is best for new mothers to make the following arrangements to keep themselves away from postpartum depression.
Prenatal
1. Strengthen perinatal health care, use various channels such as maternity schools to popularize common knowledge of pregnancy and childbirth, reduce the tension and fear of pregnant and lying-in women about pregnancy and childbirth, and improve the level of self-care.
2. Pregnant women with a family history of this mental disorder should be regularly and closely observed, avoid all adverse stimuli, and give more care and guidance.
3. Moderate exercise. Studies have shown that moderate aerobic exercise, such as after meals, prenatal and postpartum walks, etc., can improve the psychological quality of mothers and increase their contact with the outside world.
Childbirth
1. During the delivery process, medical staff should be full of love and patience, especially for women with long labor and high mental stress, they need to be patient to explain the delivery process, and try to reduce unindicated caesarean sections, thereby reducing the occurrence of postpartum depression. Rate.
2. For mothers with adverse reproductive history, stillbirths, or deformed fetuses, they should explain the reasons, give more care and encouragement, and use friendly, kind and gentle language to enhance their self-confidence.
Postpartum
1. Get enough sleep. Insufficient sleep is a factor leading to postpartum depression, so experts suggest that mothers should buy time to make up for sleep, especially when the baby is taking a nap, do not do other things, it should be used for sleep, in addition, you can also use friends, Families even hire helpers to help you achieve your sleep goals.
2. Learn to vent your emotions. Science has proven that babies grow better when their mothers are calmer. Therefore, postpartum mothers should learn to vent their emotions and keep calm. Deep breathing, meditation, bathing and other methods can help relieve stress, make you a good-natured mother, and enhance parent-child relationships.
3. Talk more. One of the reasons for postpartum depression is that moms take all the troubles themselves. In fact, mothers can list the three things you are most afraid of as a parent, and then chat with your husband or friends to find an outlet for your emotions, and you can really solve all kinds of concerns.
4. Accept imperfection. Many mothers feel that they must not do worse than other mothers, and often feel very disappointed that they do not do everything well, forcing themselves to set themselves some unrealistic expectations. In fact, the correct concept should be to be a happy mother, not a perfect mother.
5. Learn to be flexible. After becoming a mother, things were many and complicated, many of them unplanned. Instead of complaining, enjoy life's vagaries and different challenges.