PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Society tells us motherhood is supposed to be full of joy, but for 1 out of 8 women who have postpartum depression, it can be a tough time.
“It just feels like this weight where you don’t really have any other option," said new mom Chiara Braidwood. "I was at a point where I was either going to be hospitalized or I was going to ask for help.”
Braidwood's daughter Emma is 7-and-a-half months old. She had several health issues early on, including colic. It took a toll on Braidwood.
"It took me like three months to figure out that I needed to do something more than what I was doing," said Braidwood. "The postpartum anxiety and depression didn’t really go away until a month ago.”
For more than six months, Braidwood told News 3 she felt like she was in a bubble and couldn't breathe. Then it progressed.
“When I started losing chunks of time during the day and realizing that I wasn’t asking for any help, or just overall drowning, in a sense, I realized like, 'Hey I need to take a step back, up my dosage of medication and actually started asking for help,'” said Braidwood.
According to the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), around 13.5% of Virginia mothers have postpartum depression. Licensed psychotherapist Dr. Sarah Williams explained the signs and symptoms to News 3's Ellen Ice.
“Withdrawal, sadness, guilt, not participating in activities, not expressing any joy over the newborn, not eating, not sleeping," said Dr. Williams. "The major concern is when the mom withdraws from taking care of the newborn as well as having thoughts or actions of harming herself or her newborn.”
Dr. Williams said it's important to seek treatment, which could be therapy, medication, or both. She said loved ones play a key part, too.
“Oftentimes, family and friends will focus a lot on the baby, and if the mom is somewhat functioning, we tend to ignore some of the milder signs and we don’t notice until the signs have exacerbated,” said Dr. Williams.
Braidwood has this message for other moms who may be fighting the same battle.
“It does get better," said Braidwood. "I know that sounds very stereotypical but if you feel like you’re in this drowning situation, if you ask for that help or find a therapist or even confide in a friend, it does get better."
