Understanding Postpartum Depression: Signs, Symptoms, & Support

Written By Petra Várhelyi

By Melannie Laya

Bringing home your baby also means getting ready to ride the rollercoaster of emotions that accompanies postpartum. From joy and love to fatigue and anxiety, postpartum is a critical time to attend to new parents’ mental health. More often than not, postpartum depression is underreported and misunderstood because of its stigma. 

What You’ll Learn

  • Recognizing the difference between baby blues and postpartum depression

  • Risk factors for postpartum depression

  • Signs and symptoms of postpartum depression

  • Find community support for battling postpartum depression

How do I know if it's Baby Blues or Postpartum Depression?

Often, the concept of postpartum and becoming a new parent is idealized as a period full of love, warmth, and cuddles. While this may be true for some families, it is also a period of high stress, low energy, and filled with new challenges. It is completely understandable that parents experience a dip in their emotions. But where do we draw the line between baby blues and postpartum depression?

Baby Blues is experienced by 50%-70% of new moms and symptoms emerge between 2-3 days after giving birth. Baby blues may look like a rise in negative affect, mood swings, increased irritability, fatigue, anxiety, and periods of prolonged crying. This is because of the hormonal changes that occur in your body during postpartum and symptoms last around two weeks. Yet, baby blues should not affect day-to-day life. 

Postpartum depression is often mistaken for baby blues. Yet, the symptoms are of greater intensity and last for much longer. Postpartum depression is a mood disorder that interferes with your ability to care for yourself and for your baby. Postpartum depression usually appears around 2-8 weeks after giving birth. In some cases, symptoms may emerge up to a year after giving birth. Symptoms, as detailed below, can last months up to a year if left untreated. Research also shows that about 5% of women continued having symptoms up to three years after giving birth (Putnick et al., 2020). A potential warning sign for postpartum depression may be feeling disconnected from yourself or your baby. Many moms fear and worry that they aren’t able to be good moms. They are afraid of failing their child already; postpartum depression feeds into this fear and can be a terrifying experience.

Postpartum psychosis is a rarer disorder that appears within the first 4 weeks after giving birth. Many experience a manic or depressive episode a few days following childbirth. They can report hallucinations, agitation, and delusions. Sometimes, they experience fear that they will either harm themselves or their baby.

Also, you can still be struggling with postpartum and not have postpartum depression. A study done by Law et al. (2021) found that in a sample of non-depressed new moms, negative thoughts were still common. Their study demonstrated that the most common negative thoughts experienced by new moms include that it was impossible to explain how they felt during postpartum (64.3%). Many of them thought that they were a bad mom (63%). They reported that the frequency of these unhelpful thoughts was also linked with feelings of shame, guilt, and depression.  

Are You at Risk?

Risk Factors for Postpartum Depression

  • Complications During Pregnancy
    The emotional and physical distress that some women experience due to complications during pregnancy and birth can increase their vulnerability to developing postpartum depression. Research shows that complications due to Cytomegalovirus, induced or emergency labor, placenta previa, gestational diabetes, and fetal distress were correlated with an increased risk of postpartum depression (Silverman et al., 2017). 

  • Lack of Social Support
    Entering postpartum means entering a new chapter of your life where it seems like your whole world revolves around your baby. Unfortunately, many new parents report a loss in their social connections. Postpartum can be lonely because many parents can lose touch with their child-free friends. They may be isolated at home due to the new responsibilities that come with bringing their baby home.  This loss in social connections may be because of differing schedules or life priorities but it can feel like such an isolating time for any new mom. Additionally, depending on maternity/paternity leave, some moms might feel alone in caring for their baby. Most of the time, their partner has to return to work, leaving them alone with all the challenges. 

  • Previous History of Depression
    Women with a prior history of depression have about a 20% increased risk of developing postpartum depression compared to women who have no history of mood disorders (Swart et al., 2023). This makes sense. If you have already struggled with depressive symptoms in the past, you’re more likely to develop postpartum depression when factoring in the hormonal changes, sleep changes, and increased stress levels. 

  • Age of Pregnancy
    Having a prior history of depression impacts the role that the age of pregnancy plays in developing postpartum depression. Moms who got pregnant during their adolescence with no prior history of depression and moms who got pregnant after 35 with a history of depression showed an elevated risk of developing postpartum depression (Swart et al., 2023). 

Symptoms of Postpartum Depression

Warning signs that you may be experiencing postpartum depression include:

  • Excessive worrying 

  • Incapacitating feelings of sadness

  • Poor sleep and fatigue

  • Loss of pleasure or interest

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Feelings of worthlessness

  • Agitation

  • Difficulty bonding with your baby

  • Hopelessness

Dads experience it too…

Although it is less commonly spoken about, men can also experience postpartum depression. About 1 in 10 men experience postpartum depression and anxiety. Warming signs of paternal postpartum depression may include increased irritability and hostility and somatic symptoms such as headaches. Men, like women, also experience hormonal changes postpartum. Men experience a decrease in their testosterone levels. While this helps foster a bond between them and their new baby, it may put them at risk for developing depressive symptoms (Scarff, 2019). 

Seeking Support for PPD

You are not alone. Like you, countless other moms experience postpartum depression and anxiety. Taking care of yourself is just as crucial as caring for your baby. The guilt and shame associated with postpartum depression create a roadblock for many women seeking help. But there is no shame in making sure you’re okay and that your psychological needs are attended to. This way, you can be the best mom and role model for your little one. Below, we listed some helpful resources for postpartum support:

  • Baycare offers community support groups in a virtual or in-person format to help support you during postpartum and beyond. Services are also provided in English and Spanish.

    •  Hillsborough County

      • (813) 872-3925

      • perinatalsupportservices@baycare.org

    • Pinellas County

      • (727) 462-3200

      • postpartumsupportservices@baycare.com

  • Postpartum Support International helps families suffering from postpartum depression and other mood disorders. They aim to increase awareness of perinatal mental health issues and can assist families in finding the right resources for them

    • Call or text their helpline for services in English or Spanish. 

      • 1-800-944-4773 (4PPD)

  • MotherToBaby is a no-cost information service available to new moms in English and Spanish. They provide evidence-based information about medication and other exposures during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. 

    • Call or text their helpline.

      • (866) 626-6847

  • Xen Family Therapy - Planning for Postpartum Therapy Group. This therapy group is aimed at women who want help in preparing for postpartum. This group will help women develop self-care plans, a deeper understanding of postpartum emotions, and create a support network. 

    • Licensed in Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania

      • (727) 371-0971

      • xenia@xenfamilytherapy.com

   Balancing motherhood and postpartum depression and anxiety can be tough. Here at Xen Family Therapy, we are here to help you through these challenging times. We provide couples counseling, individual counseling, and postpartum group therapy. 

If you are looking for a maternal mental health therapist, feel free to book a consultation with us whenever the time feels right for you. 

For extra support, call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-852-6262.

References

  • Law, N. K., Hall, P. L., & Cheshire, A. (2021). Common Negative Thoughts in Early Motherhood and Their Relationship to Guilt, Shame and Depression. Journal of Child and Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-01968-6

  • Putnick, D. L., Sundaram, R., Bell, E. M., Ghassabian, A., Goldstein, R. B., Robinson, S. L., Vafai, Y., Gilman, S. E., & Yeung, E. (2020). Trajectories of Maternal Postpartum Depressive Symptoms. Pediatrics, 146(5), e20200857. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-0857

  • Scarff, J. R. (2019). Postpartum Depression in Men. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 16(5-6), 11. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6659987/

  • Silverman, M. E., Reichenberg, A., Savitz, D. A., Cnattingius, S., Lichtenstein, P., Hultman, C. M., Larsson, H., & Sandin, S. (2017). The risk factors for postpartum depression: A population-based study. Depression and Anxiety, 34(2), 178–187. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22597

  • Swart, T., Shandley, K., Huynh, M. Q., Brown, C. M., Austin, D. W., & Bhowmik, J. (2023). Pregnancy complications and their association with postpartum depression symptoms: a retrospective study. Australian Journal of Psychology, 75(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2023.2247088

Petra Várhelyi
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