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Pregnancy Vs. Postpartum

Pregnancy and postpartum are the two important phases of every woman’s life. There would be so many good memories during the time of pregnancy. But postpartum isn't having the same happy feeling as pregnancy for many women. A new mother faces serious mental and health issues which usually fall on the sidelines and not has been given much attention.

Nowadays the number of women experiencing postpartum depression is increasing. Despite technological progress and immense online medical consulting facilities, Many Women still don’t have a proper awareness of the postpartum challenges and how a new mother has to face them. As a result, it turns into misery and the mother falls into postpartum depression.

Especially In villages and small towns, there are a lot of myths and unawareness about postpartum care. The first ever problem a new mother faces after a painful delivery process is breastfeeding. Scientifically women produce a small amount of rich nutritious milk called colostrum for the first few days of birth and it’s enough for the baby too. As the women and the people around her are not aware of this, they would start saying things like the baby is not getting enough milk, Your breasts don’t look heavy, and so on.

Some first-time moms don’t even know how to hold and feed the baby for the first few days. The new mother feels helpless and somewhat guilty when she gets these negative comments about her physique and she feels incapable of something like she’s not able to fill her baby’s stomach. In the case of women with flattened and cracked nipples breastfeeding gets even more difficult. As the breast engorges day by day it’s painful and even bleeds sometimes.

The second important issue that affects the mother's mental health is sleep deprivation. The Mother has to feed the baby every two hours. Sometimes She has to sleep in the sitting position as the baby wakes up if she puts the baby down. And Sometimes You Won't be able to wake up suddenly and could not even hear your baby’s cry. Maybe after a few minutes, you get up. It’s okay. It doesn’t mean you are not a good mother or you don’t have a motherly feeling. These are some of the negative thoughts that attack your mind during post-partum depression.

No doubt the process would get familiar soon and the situations would become normal too. But There are also cases When the mother couldn’t come out of depression which leads to suicidal thoughts or the mother herself harming the baby too. So It becomes immensely important to come out and speak out. At least don’t let another mom go through what you did.

Here are a few tips to make your postpartum less stressful and happier:

Study about the postpartum challenges. How we are better aware of a particular issue better we get prepared for that.

Learn to hold the baby properly. And also educate yourself on breastfeeding issues and solutions. 

Most importantly share these things with your family members because They will be there to help you in the postpartum journey.

Always have Your 'Me' time in between.

Never forget “Happy and Healthy Mother = Happy and Healthy Baby!”