Although pregnancy is supposed to be a joyful period of women’s lives, sometimes it is filled with sorrow and gloom.
It is said that antepartum depression affects about 10%-20% of all pregnant women. Just as the name suggests this is the kind of depression that women suffer from before they give birth.
Information about depression during pregnancy
It is just normal for pregnant women to be more sensitive than their non-pregnant counterparts, but suffering from depression is more than just crying in front of the TV. In extreme cases women could even think about suicide. The bad news is that just like postpartum depression, this problem is also often overlooked.
The truth about depression when being pregnant is that the doctors aren’t really able to recognize it unless the patients talk about their problems. In many cases women never suffered from depression before and so they don’t really know what signs to be looking for.
Experience
Those who went through antepartum depression say that they used to suffer in silence and they didn’t even talk to their partners about their problems. It is difficult for women to see the other people being happy about the baby. Usually they feel miserable when they are all alone.
The best thing you can do is to find some information regarding depression while being pregnant. It is good to know about the signs and symptoms and in some cases it also helps to find out about the past experiences of other women. As soon as you find out about the problem you might want to take action.
Talk to your doctor
Once you find out more about antepartum depression you may want to talk to your doctor about the feelings that you experience. Most probably he or she will ask you some standard questions and you could be referred to a specialist. You will have to go to therapy and it might have to take some Prozac.
Talking to your doctor and your husband about depression before childbirth will help you handle your feelings. Although it is normal to experience ups and downs, if these feelings last longer than 2 weeks, it may be considered a sign of depression. Usually women experience feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
During antepartum depression women can experience weight gain or weight loss, they could have longer periods of sadness or sorrow, and the sleep patterns can also change. In some cases women have thoughts of suicide and these women simply aren’t able to concentrate for longer periods of time.
Feelings of fatigue are also common during depression before birth along with a loss of motivation and loss of interest. If the problem isn’t treated, it could lead to postpartum depression. These are bad for the physical and mental health of the mother and the baby.
There is a lot of available information regarding antepartum depression and you should make sure that you find out as much as possible to be aware of the possible signs that you could have overlooked.
