Emotional health and wellbeing after birth

Perinatal depression is a type of depression that some parents have during pregnancy or during their child's first year. You might feel:

• sad or low a lot of the time
• loss of interest and lack of enjoyment in the wider world or things you used to enjoy
• a lack of energy
• tired all the time or have trouble sleeping
• finding it difficult to relate to your baby or withdraw from people
• finding it difficult to concentrate or make decisions
• scared of frightening thoughts.

Two women shared their experiences of perinatal depression that you might find useful to watch - Stephanie and Theresa. Perinatal Positivity have a range of films and resources to support you.

Having a child causes huge changes to your body in terms of the physical shock and hormonal fluctuations, which in turn can have an impact on mood, as well as impacting on your family life, sleep levels and stress. This can lead to either parent becoming more anxious and worried than usual.

Signs that you or someone you know may have perinatal anxiety include:

• finding it hard to sleep
• feeling or being sick
• feeling lightheaded or dizzy
• stomach cramps
• being able to feel your heartbeat going faster than usual or feeling you can't catch your breath
• feeling nervous or unable to relax
• having a sense of dread, or fearing the worst
• feeling like the world is slowing down or speeding up.

About 30,000 people have a traumatic birth in the UK each year.

Instead of their pregnancy and birth being joyful and a happy event, their experience of giving birth was difficult and left them feeling vulnerable and distressed. Birth trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect mothers, fathers, same sex partners or other birth partners.

Some of the factors that make birth trauma more likely are:

• lengthy labour or short and very painful labour
• poor pain relief
• feelings of loss of control
• high levels of medical intervention
• use of forceps
• emergency caesarean section
• impersonal treatment or problems with staff attitudes
• not feeling listened too
• lack of information or explanation
• lack of privacy and dignity
• fear for baby's safety
• stillbirth.

Your hospital can give you the opportunity to debrief your birth, helping you to make sense of the birth and the medical interventions that took place, with an independent midwife who wasn't involved with your care. If any aspect of your reproductive journey, birth or feeding your child feels or felt traumatic to you, speak to your health visitor or GP.

For more information on birth trauma visit www.makebirthbetter.org/birth-trauma-support-for-parents.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder caused by a frightening or distressing event.

Research suggests that six per cent of women who give birth go on to develop postnatal PTSD but it's believed this figure could be much higher as many women go undiagnosed. Partners could also develop PTSD after witnessing a traumatic event.

The symptoms of PTSD are:

• Re-experiencing the traumatic event through flashbacks, nightmares or intrusive memories. These can make you feel distressed and panicky.
• Avoiding anything that reminds you of the trauma. This can mean refusing to walk past the hospital where you gave birth, or avoiding meeting other women with new babies.
• Feeling hypervigilant - this means that you are constantly alert, irritable and jumpy. You worry something terrible is going to happen to your baby.
• Feeling low and unhappy. You may feel guilty and blame yourself for your traumatic birth.
• You may have difficulty remembering parts of your birth experience.

Speak to your GP or Health Visitor who can support you in getting treatment. Trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) are recommended treatments.

The Birth Trauma Association spoke to five women about their experience of birth trauma and their experience of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth in this video that you might find useful.

It's a myth that perinatal mental health issues only affect the person who gave birth to your baby.

Fathers and partners can share the anxieties in worries that their partner has during pregnancy, the birth and the early days of parenting. It's a challenge for both parents caring for their new baby and coming to terms with parenthood. It's important both parents are emotionally well and able to enjoy and care for their new baby. Fathers and/or partners are important and good mental health is important for them, their partners, and their children. Close involvement of fathers / partners from birth supports positive relationships.

Fathers and partners may experience perinatal mental health issues even if their partner doesn't. They might have found the birth traumatic but their partner didn't.

It's important to seek help if you are struggling. The Health Visiting Service is here to support all parents and carers regardless of gender or sexuality. If you're struggling, reach out to your local team for advice and support. You can phone your local team Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (except bank holidays).

You can find more information on our 'Partner's' section. 

We spoke with five local women about their experience of perinatal mental health issues. These women wanted to empower other families to seek help and let them know that things can get better. The women talk about their experiences during pregnancy and after their children arrived, along with mental health triggers including suicidal thoughts and support they received. If you have any of these feelings please contact your GP or Health Visiting Team. The topics discussed in this recording are sensitive in nature; if you feel uncomfortable or distressed you can stop listening at any time. You can find more support options at the bottom of the page.