Treating postpartum depression involves much more than taking a pill
|
|
Q: My daughter is suffering from Postpartum Depression. Antidepressants prescribed by her obstetrician have done nothing. Is there anywhere else to turn?
A: As you know, Postpartum Depression has been in the news recently, sometimes with tragic results. Your daughter is very lucky to have you watching out for her.
It’s a problem that the medical community has only begun to take seriously, says Kathleen Fields, a nurse-midwife affiliated with Warren Hospital. She also teaches in the maternal/child unit of the nursing department at Cedar Crest College.
There are so many pieces to this puzzle, she says, and they include, but are not limited to, a gamut of support issues she should be talking about with a psychiatric professional.
“It’s more complicated than taking a pill,” she says, “There’s so much more than one piece of the puzzle to be evaluated.”
Your daughter may need to learn coping skills that include developing a regimen that helps her get up in the morning and other basic needs.
Also, there are many medications that work and don’t work from person to person. A doctor can help her find the right one, Fields says.
“It’s very complicated. There are many things she may need to learn to survive … not just to be told that she failed,” she says.
Fortunately, the evolution of care for new mothers has been incredible, Fields says, as greater numbers of women have the financial ability to seek additional help if they don’t like what they’ve heard the first time. Fifteen years ago, there was no screening for Postpartum Depression. Now OB/GYN practices have a list of questions they use to assess a woman’s emotional health.
“It’s as much a part of the pregnancy as the postpartum visit to the doctor,” Fields says.
A couple of technical issues occur to panel member Marcie Lightwood, though.
So many things can trigger a Depression, she says, from extreme fatigue to isolation to deeper-seated issues from a new mother’s past, such as abuse.
All the Family Project panel members agree that your daughter needs to start talking and keep talking, whether it’s to you or to her spouse or partner, to her friends, a moms’ club or her lactation support group.
There are definitely changes occuring in her body, too, says panelist Denise Continenza.
“There are chemical imbalances occuring, and they’re exacerbated by all the other things. If they’re not addressed, they can lead to child abuse,” Continenza says, specifically referring to the case a few years ago of Andrea Yates, who drowned her children in the family bathtub.
If your daughter feels this is something that won’t pass on its own or with the treatment she’s currently getting, she needs to speak up. And you need to watch her and tell her that.
And if she mentions not being able to take care of her new baby, somebody needs to do that for her, says panel member Joanne Nigito.
Beyond the medication she’s already taking, she needs to watch what she’s eating, says Bethlehem gynecologist Helene B. Leonetti.
She may need to add essential fatty acids in the form of fish oil or ground flaxseeds to her diet, Leonetti says.
“She definitely needs to stay on her prenatal vitamins,” she says.
Your daughter also may benefit from using a progesterone cream, Leonetti says, since her body will only begin to make the hormone when she starts to ovulate again, and that could take months.
All the panel members and experts agree that if your daughter is not being helped by her current doctor, she should find another one and keep looking until she finds one who helps her feel better.
Print Version
Tell-a-Friend comments powered by Disqus
