Postnatal, Perinatal and Menopausal

Around 1 in 5 women will develop mental health issues when they’re pregnant or in the first year after their baby’s born.
Mental health issues can sometimes be serious for you and your baby, especially if they’re not picked up early and treated.
A ‘perinatal’ mental health problem is one that you experience any time from becoming pregnant up to a year after you give birth.

Having a baby is a big life event. It’s natural to experience a range of emotions during pregnancy and after giving birth. But if any difficult feelings start to have a big effect on your day-to-day life, you might be experiencing a perinatal mental health problem. 

Common perinatal mental health problems include:

• Perinatal depression
• Perinatal anxiety
• Perinatal OCD
• Postpartum psychosis
• Postpartum PTSD

Postnatal or postpartum meaning ‘after birth’. This refers to the first year after giving birth. Postnatal mental health can be in the form of postnatal anxiety, postnatal depression, OCD, eating disorders, psychosis, schizophrenia, etc.

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms in a way that is ongoing and impacting your ability to carry out everyday activities, it could very well be a sign that something is not quite right. It can be easy to be tempted to ignore these symptoms, to attribute them to other aspects of adjusting to life with a new baby, or simply try to ride them out. However, doing so will prevent you from identifying if something is not quite right and from managing these symptoms with help from a health professional. Moreover, the failure to get help early can lead to your symptoms worsening over time.

Menopause and Mental Health

Menopause usually occurs between 45- 55 years of age, although it can occur up the to mid-’60s. Changes in your hormones during menopause can impact your mental health as well as your physical health. You may experience feelings of anxiety, stress, or even depression. Menopausal symptoms may include:

• anger and irritability
• anxiety
• forgetfulness
• loss of self-esteem
• loss of confidence
  

Life doesn’t have to be put on hold because of menopause. There’s a lot that can be done to help manage symptoms such as talking to us at Supporting Humanity.