After giving birth, the emotional changes can be among the most intense you’ve ever felt. It is like no other experience in life. You may feel love, joy, uncertainty and exhaustion, and even all of them in the same moment. Becoming a new mother involves a tremendous amount of adjustment for you and your partner. Educating yourself on the changes your body and emotions are going through can be a tremendous help.  

Postpartum blues
Approximately 70 percent of new mothers experience postpartum blues. You may feel tearful, exhausted and irritable and have trouble sleeping. The blues usually start within four days after delivery and may last up to two weeks.  

The blues are thought to be due to the adjustment of becoming a parent and trying to manage the often overwhelming tasks of caring for your baby while recovering from giving birth. Along with a lack of sleep, you are also experiencing major hormonal changes.  

Postpartum depression
Postpartum depression can feel like “the blues” but it lasts longer than two weeks and includes intense feelings of sadness, anxiety, despair or hopelessness that interfere with a new mother’s ability to care for herself or her new baby. Women with a history of depression or mental health issues are more at risk for postpartum depression.  

If you have any of these symptoms for longer than two weeks after giving birth, call your health care provider or maternity care coordinator. You should also call your provider if you are experiencing anxiety or panic attacks, constant worrying, hopelessness or helplessness that are interfering with your eating, sleeping, caring for your self or caring for your baby. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby contact a health care provider immediately.  

As you adjust to the new experience of a baby, be sure to get plenty of rest. Have a family member or friend arrange visiting hours when others can bring meals and meet the new baby. Schedule time away from the baby for you to complete: shopping, house cleaning or to just take a break. This is a special time for your new family, so limit visitors if you need to, and don’t feel it is your job to entertain family or friends.  

Resources
Your OB provider or Primary Care Physician
Your Maternity Care Coordinator
County Mental Health services

Sonia Hintze, LPN, is the Maternity Care Coordiantor for Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.