By Salome Akpan

Having a baby can be a lovely experience. Being a parent is beautiful, but can also be tiring and overwhelming. It’s normal to have feelings of worry or doubt, especially if you are a first-time parent- Postpartum Depression In Women

However, if your feelings include sadness or loneliness, severe mood swings, and frequent crying, you may have postpartum depression.

Postpartum Depression In Women

Postpartum depression is a type of depression that happens after giving birth. It causes extreme sadness and despair.

Postpartum depression is the sudden sadness parents feel after the arrival of a newborn. Some people feel it’s only women that go through postpartum depression, but this is wrong. Even fathers go through it, although they both go through it differently and react differently to it.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. During the postpartum depression, your body and mind go through many changes during and after pregnancy, you’ll likely feel empty, tired, and emotionless, while mood swings will take over you.

Causes Of Postpartum Depression In Women

For a woman, it can come immediately after delivery, especially if it’s her first child. Seeing the scars that you’re unsure if they’ll disappear, having to find your body take a shape that you never really bargained for, having to be massaged with hot water, having to stay at one place to breastfeed an infant, knowing you’re never going to be able to do a lot of things again with your body and for yourself could lead to postpartum depression.

–SCARS FROM C-SECTION

However, there can be several different types of each scar based on how your body naturally tore or how the surgeons felt it was the most necessary direction to cut based on your individual circumstance. A cesarean delivery, also known as a c-section, is a method of childbirth in which a fetus is surgically removed from the mother’s uterus. Whether a C-section is planned or unexpected, this procedure involves surgical incisions and gives room for scars.

–VAGINAL SCARS

Though the vagina is stretchy and is designed for accommodating the birth of a child, it is not uncommon for the perineum to stretch so far that it causes tearing, requiring the need for stitches.

Most women will experience some degree of tearing after vaginal childbirth, especially if it is their first time giving birth. Many of these will require stitching as a result. The stitches usually dissolve after approximately 4-6 weeks, depending on the extent of the injury as well as the type of stitch used.

The area will then continue to heal for several months after the delivery. During pregnancy, additional strain from the weight of the baby is put on these muscles, and during a vaginal birth, they can sometimes be damaged or stretched. This means you might find yourself leaking when you sneeze, cough, or laugh

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–NEW BODY SHAPE

Women naturally care about their looks and shape, and when they notice that their body changes in shape, there’s every tendency that they’ll enter postpartum depression.

After childbirth, your body will inevitably look different, you may not realize that your rib cage has to expand to accommodate your growing uterus. In addition, your hips also need to widen to provide an easier exit down the birth canal during delivery.

After pregnancy, however, your ribs and hips may not shift back to where they used to be. Your body may have become wider during pregnancy.

This is because it was making room for your growing baby. Your ribs may have expanded, and your hips will often widen to make it easier for the baby to exit the birth canal. For some women wider ribs and hips will be permanent.

As your baby grows during pregnancy you will gain weight. This helps to support your baby before and after birth. Once you have delivered your baby, it’s safest for you to take it slow when trying to lose weight. Weight loss normally happens gradually after birth.

If it’s your goal to return to your pre-pregnancy weight, remember it can take several months, or longer. Healthy eating and gentle exercise can help lose weight, but it’s important to remember you won’t change overnight.

–SHOE SIZE ISSUE

Do you know how it feels to not be able to wear your favorite shoes again, especially when you feel that the shoe size increment is a permanent thing? There are two main reasons your shoe size can increase during pregnancy, weight gain, and your hormones. Extra weight can flatten out your foot arch and your shoe size might increase.

You may have heard of the hormone relaxin. This hormone helps to relax the ligaments and bones in your pelvis so that you are prepared for childbirth. It also relaxes all your joints and ligaments, including in your feet. This may cause your feet to flatten and spread out and increase your shoe size. These changes to your feet are permanent so it’s important that you find shoes that fit correctly after pregnancy.

–SAGGY BREAST

Here’s one of the reasons women enter into postpartum depression, and also why most women choose exclusion for their children. It’s something they didn’t bargain for, and they can’t just accept it overnight. Good breasts is one of the body’s confidence that a woman has, and coming to have saggy breasts because breastfeeding is always not good for them.

Though for some women, their breasts always remain the same even after breastfeeding, while to some, it becomes saggy and not enticing.  Your breasts grow during pregnancy, and if you’re breastfeeding, your breasts will shrink and grow with each feed. Your breasts don’t contain any muscle, however, they are attached via ligaments to the muscles of your chest wall.

These ligaments stretch during pregnancy and don’t tighten again. This means that your breasts will droop, and they may never be the same shape they were before you were pregnant. Once you stop breastfeeding, the milk-producing tissue will be replaced by fatty tissue. This can take 6 months or so, but before this happens, they can feel quite empty.

It’s best that you support your breast with a comfortable, well-fitted bra.

The joy of having a child is bountiful, but we also cannot rule out the sadness that comes with the presence of a new member of the family.

It is very temporary. It can never last for long, but then, if postpartum depression is not managed properly, it can have a negative effect on your relationship with your partner. According to social science, those who develop postpartum depression are at major risk of developing major depression in life.