You're Not Alone: Postpartum Depression and Baby Blues

Eric Warshaw, MD OB/GYN: Many women when they get home from the hospital are overwhelmed by the amount of work and things they have ahead of them to do.
 
Rachel Walker, MD OB/GYN: Having baby blues is more common then you think. A lot of women feel overwhelmed after the delivery of a baby.
 
Angela Chiodo, CNM Certified Nurse-Midwife: So those first couple weeks are really emotional. So you're gonna cry a lot. You're gonna laugh a lot.
 
Julia Barnes, MD OB/GYN: Just a learning process and you're gonna make little mistakes here and there and that's normal.
 
Kevin Overbeck, MD OB/GYN: People feel a lot of pressure to be perfect. And it's normal to feel overwhelmed and sad and that's common.
 
Julia Barnes, MD OB/GYN: Where we get concern and we're averse into postpartum depression is if you're feeling overwhelmed most of the time. Frustrated most of the time. Not taking pleasure in normal activities that you would have. Not happy about being with the baby.
 
Fonda Mitchell, MD OB/GYN: A feeling of remoteness or distance from the newborn and that feeling of wanting to withdraw from your family and your friends.
 
Rachel Walker, MD OB/GYN: If you're feeling completely overwhelmed, feeling like you are not able to care for yourself or your baby or feeling like you may harm yourself or the baby, those are serious symptoms and you should talk to your doctor right away.
 
Angela Chiodo, CNM Certified Nurse-Midwife: There's lots of support resources that we can connect you to. There's counseling, there's medications if needed. And there's lots of, just little things that we can do to discuss your circumstances and what might help.
 
Debra Davis, MD Family Medicine: You're not alone, you're not the only one going through this. There's not something wrong with you. This is just a normal phase of postpartum care and we are here to help get you through it.