You’ve just had a baby. Everyone around you tells you that you ‘should be happy’– but you’re not. If this sounds like you, it could be that you’ve got the ‘baby blues’ – a mild form of post-natal depression, which affects nearly 80% of new mothers. You may feel tired and tearful, anxious and mildly depressed, often for reasons you can’t quite identify.

Symptoms of mild depression after birth are quite normal. They’re certainly not pleasant but they’re unlikely to be harmful to you, your baby or your close relationships. So it’s important to make the distinction between the ‘baby blues’– which can emerge around four days after the birth and persist for several weeks – and the persistent, deeper unhappiness, which goes on for much longer.

Moderate depression, which affects around 15% of women, can be difficult to distinguish from baby blues, especially in the early days. It can be more difficult to shift and have a deeper affect on your life. While it can respond well to self-treatment, especially in a supportive home environment, help from your doctor, health visitor or a counsellor is strongly recommended. Severe depression after birth is rare (occurring in only 1-2% of women) but may put both mothers and their babies at risk – it requires professional help.

What are the symptoms?
All new mothers feel tired, lack energy, and experience feelings of guilt and anxiety. But a mother with post-natal depression may show, express or experience, a combination of the following symptoms:

Lethargy
Tearfulness
Anxiety
Guilt
Irritability
Confusion
Disturbed sleep
Excessive exhaustion
Difficulties making decisions
Loss of self-esteem
Lack of confidence in her ability as a mother
No enjoyment of motherhood
Fear of harming herself or the baby
Loss of libido
Loss of appetite
Hostility or indifference to people she normally loves
Difficulty in concentrating
Shame at being unable to be happy
Fear of judgement
Helplessness