Any help for post-natal depression??

Hi All,

Not sure if i'm in the right place for this post but here goes.... It's not me thats suffering from PND, it's my twin sister and i'm so worried about her. She has a a 4 month old baby, and she went to the doctors because she was suffering from anxiety and depression, she knew what was happening and went to get help, this was about a 6 weeks ago and the doctor gave her meds to help her (sorry don't know which ones). But the other night i had a frantic phone call from my mum who is so worried about her, she's drinking alot and keeps forgetting to take her tablets (she's told me that if's she's forgotten to take one she'll take 2 the next day, which makes her happy, to the point it looks like shes drunk) She just seems so down a the moment and i don't know what to say or do to help her, any words of wisdom would be so much appreciated, i live in nottingham and she lives in wales, and i feel so useless how can i help her get through this???

When she first started taking the tablets after a few weeks she was fine, but now she's so much worse and i don't know what to do, she's refusing to got back to the doctors because she thinks that social services will take her baby away. Anyone out there ever suffered from post-natal depression who will understand????? Any suggestions welcomed with open arms. Thank you.

Marie XXX

Hi Marie,

Oh I can sympathise so much. I suffered PND after the birth of my daughter and I too was scared to go to the doc's as I thought they would take the baby and my son away from me :(

I struggled on for several months before my friend said that I must get help. The doc was fantastic and of course no one ever mentioned taking the children away from me.

As you know, it is very important to take the med's regularly. Has she a partener that could take responsibility for her taking the med's daily?

Even if she does take them regularly it can take several months for her to start to feel better. There are different levels of PND and it is very important that the doc is aware of how severe hers is. She really needs to go back to the doc and explain how things are going. Has she considered contacting her Health Visitor as this may be less intimidating than her doc?

Kate

"Everybody's changing and I don't feel the same"

Thanks for your help Kate, its really appreciated.

Take care.

Marie XXX

Hi marie

I am a health visitor and also a mum who has suffered from postnatal depression and it is horrible. However it is very common. The official figures suggest that 1 in every 8 to 10 women will go on to develop pnd, but it is probably more common even than that because women dont want to admit how bad they feel. Lots also have the very same fear as your sister, that someone will take her baby away. I can reassure you both on that fear as that would certainly not happen simply because she has pnd.

No offence to any GPs out there but I would suggest your sister contacts her health visitor as they should be able to provide the best support for her. Not only that but there may be support groups in your area specifically for women with pnd, and they can be invaluable. Sometimes the community psychiatric nurses can have a role to play also as many of them have a special interest in supporting women through this and they can also advise on the most appropriate medication if necessary (again no offence to any GPs lol!).

I really think your sister should contact her health visitor, or if she doesnt feel able to maybe she would agree to you, your mum, or her partner speaking to the health visitor on her behalf. Her health visitor can then hopefully speak to her GP about the medication and perhaps arrange for this to be reviewed, though your sister should do her best to take her medication as prescribed meantime.

Unfortunately this is now friday evening and you probably wont get a health visitor now untill monday morning, but if things get worse over the weekend you could contact yout local out of hours service for advice.

I hope your sister gets the support she needs and that she can soon start to enjoy her baby again. PND really is a horrible illness.

I hope this has been a little helpful. If you need any more info or reassurance feel free to pm me.

Take care

Coni X

Hi Coni,

Thanks very much for your help. I have spoken to my sister, and she's trying to explain that it was just a blip, and she's feeling better now (I know shes not, and shes trying to cover everything up).

My mum and her partner have sat her down and explained to her about going back to the docs, but shes trying to put them of, saying shes fine (she is definatley not). We'll see how it goes at the start of the week, i'll ring her again tonight to see if she will consider going to see her health visitor. Thanks again for your help.

Take care.

Marie XXX