More than 600,000 mothers per year deal with some form of postpartum depression. This is not just the “baby blues” which is mild depression and only tends to last several weeks.
The symptoms of major postpartum depression include insomnia, appetite loss, sadness, worry and emotional distress that interferes with daily life. If left untreated it can turn into chronic lifelong depression.
Don’t try to tough it out, seek guidance and follow tips to help work thru the pain and depression.
Suggestions for managing Postpartum Depression:
Clinical Psychologist Shoshana Bennett says:
Get your rest, it is important for emotional health and your serotonin levels will replenish during sleep, try to get 5-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, Exercise, eat well, and nurture yourself. Find someone to help you with baby care.
Seek emotional support have friends or family to talk to about your worries, and understand that new motherhood challenges are temporary. Discuss your worries with the father.
Don’t forget about Dad for about one in ten new fathers also can experience postpartum depression. Research shows male children with depressed fathers are more likely to have learning and behavioral disorders. Seek help immediately!
Nutrition Suggestions:
DHA is a deficiency during this time, it is an omega 3 fatty acid vital to a healthy emotional state, this can become depleted during pregnancy due to the sharing of DHA with baby.
Rich sources include eggs, algae, hemp hearts and cold water fish like salmon or herring. If you need to use DHA supplements make sure it is a reliable company.
B vitamins are deficient also during this time and affect mood disorders and depression, take a supplement and eat more fruits, veggies, legumes and whole grains.
Progesterone needs more balance, see your doctor or try some wild yam or sarsaparilla.
Balance your blood sugar by avoiding processed and high sugary sweet foods.
Herbs can also help, during postpartum depression, try making a tea with Oatstraw or Nettles, they are rich in minerals to nourish the nervous system. Let tea steep 10 minutes or more to get the most of the minerals. Lemon balm tea helps relieve depression; so does passionflower or motherwort, these can also be taken in an extract form.
The homeopathic Arnica also helps to soothe the muscle and nervous systems. If you do not feel any better, please see your doctor for help or get a referral for someone who can.
Remember to get outside and enjoy the sun, it is uplifting and do some deep breathing for oxygenated air. Vitamin D from the sun helps the brain and your emotional well-being. It will bring depression down and an overall good feeling to the body.
References:
Cynthia Burrows, from Austin, Texas, owns Cindy Burrows, Natural Health Consultant; assisting individuals with health issues they would like to change. She will set up a program giving choices of foods, herbs, teas and homeopathic suggestions. Cindy is past owner of Nature’s Healing Herbs, an Herbal, Green Tea, and Tincture product line, and a rare product line of Green Tea Foods. She has certificates for Herbalist at East West School of Herbology, and as Wellness Consultant with the Wellness Forum in Ohio.
Cindy is also a Medical Technologist, with a B.S. degree from Mansfield University in Mansfield Pa., she has been in healthcare for over 30 years. In 2005, she started using a new device founded in Europe, Quantum Biofeedback, “an energy rebalancing of the body”, by using our bodies electricity or frequency waves it can detect stress points in the body, she has added this to her consulting practice. She now has her Certification as a Biofeedback Specialist. She helps her clients by working with the synergy of herbs, food, homeopathy, and aromatherapy within her practice. She is a speaker, writer, and teacher. Cindy has been interviewed on TV; about the benefits of Green Tea and has been on radio about her small business tour to Ecuador.
Cindy has been an herbalist for over 20 years and has spent 6 years learning through the East West School of Herbology with Michael Tierra. She has studied Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic Herbs with a strong emphasis on nutrition. Along with many other continued studies of alternative and complementary medicine. She is a Certified Wellness Consultant, through a special program, The Wellness Forum, which has its nutrition program, now part of the curriculum at Ohio State University, providing educational seminars and workshops designed to impart relevant nutrition information to individuals to take control of their own health. These programs give healthier options and choices that can impact your longevity and quality of life. Cindy has been a speaker to many groups and has conducted many of her own classes on food and healthy life style programs.
Cindy has been involved with a hands-on healing program for the past 4 years and offers energy healing, through donation only, to anyone who needs her services.
She is Co-president of the Austin Herb Society and a member of the American Herbalist Guild. Cynthia has been a board member on many programs in the past including; La Sertoma, Arthritis Foundation, Toastmasters International, National Association of Female Executives, Handicapped Equestrian Learning Program, Entrepreneurs Association, and Austin Integrated Health Care Program.
Cindy also loves nature, animals, reading, blending teas, juices, etc.; likes to hike, and work with plants and, of course, cooking., mostly vegetarian.
Cindy has an adventurous streak.
She has organized and taken tours with business and artists groups to Big Bend, Texas, New Mexico, USA, and Ecuador, South America.
