see also Depression
Many women feel ‘down’ after giving birth, and for many reasons - hormonal changes, tiredness (possibly due to a drop in blood sugar levels), previous episodes of post-natal depression, strains within the marriage or relationship, anxiety about coping with a new baby, financial problems, the sudden realisation that life has changed for good… In a few women such feelings, initially a natural response to a new situation, last for much longer than a few weeks and seriously undermine their ability to cope.
Symptoms include tiredness, an increase or decrease in appetite, feeling that one is a failure, feeling very aggressive towards the baby when he or she cries and guilty afterwards, withdrawing from family, friends, and all forms of social contact, and not least feeling that everything is unreal, that the whole world is made of cardboard. A few women completely lose touch with reality, in which case their behaviour can be said to be psychotic rather than depressed; if this happens consult your doctor if there is no improvement in 2 hours and give Aconite 30c ½ -hourly until help arrives.
Otherwise, select a remedy from the list below; if there is no improvement within a week or so, seek constitutional treatment from an experienced homeopath or see your medical doctor.
Specific remedies to be taken 4 times daily for up to 3 days
- Not interested in anything, sex least of all, feeling tired, irritable, and chilly, constipated, yellow-brown discolouration across bridge of nose, morale very good during pregnancy but very low afterwards Sepia 30c
- Talking excitedly and incoherently, face red and flushed, eyes staring Belladonna 30c
- Persistent obscene thoughts, unusual talkativeness and suspicion, inappropriate laughter, breaking off encounters abruptly and running away Hyoscyamus 30c
- Depression brought on by grief Ignatia 30c
- Feeling very weepy, not at all thirsty, and worse for heat Pulsatilla 30c
- Woman withdrawn, irritable, full of guilt and resentment, refuses to be consoled or comforted, says she wants to be left alone Natrum mur. 30c
- Where there is a delusion that she is encaged in wires or feels imprisoned on account of having a baby to take care of, chilliness and sighing, Cimicifuga 30c
Self-help: Mild post-natal depression can be helped by getting more sleep, and by getting out of the house away from the baby. Don’t bottle up your feelings; talk things over with a confidante. Taking extra zinc and trying the Blood Sugar-Levelling Diet for a month or so might also help. |
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