Planning and looking forward to having your baby is a wonderful and exciting event. The life change that having a baby can bring often means having to think through all the adjusting and juggling it is going to take. The realization, however, is often very different from the expectation. Post Partum is particularly difficult when you have your new baby and you feel nothing at all. In some cases, you just want to be away from your baby. Some cannot cope with the crying or the sheer presence of the new baby. Some call it baby blues and some know they are depressed but feel they must somehow pull out of it on their own. Some women feel so desperate; it's almost a sensation of just having to run.
You can see how this terrible depression that some women experience after childbirth can debilitate the bonding process and all but destroy the self-worth of a new mother. Getting help for something that is almost a right of passage, ‘becoming a mother,' seems for the woman suffering with post partum depression an almost degrading request. The guilt that surrounds the difficulty being experienced in transitioning into motherhood is usually what stops a woman from reaching out for help.
Listening to Bryce Dallas Howard, who recently had a leading role in the movie 'The Help' and is expecting her second child, expressing openly that she waited too long to get help for her post partum depression with her first child should strengthen all women. The actress stated “feeling nothing for your child” was her experience. Having received successful treatment has allowed her to move forward with her career and enlarge her family. I applaud her for being willing to share such sensitive information with other women. This example may help other women who are not in the public eye to think about getting help rather than trying to exist through this very frightening experience. Post Partum is a type of depression that is unique to women and may be chemical. As Bryce Dallas Howard said, she waited too long. Knowing what she knows now, she would get help if this happens with her second child. Seeking help with her post partum depression was the key to resolution.
