KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Having a baby is a life-changing moment in many family’s lives. As part of WVLT’s series looking into maternal health in East Tennessee, we’re looking at how mental health plays a role.
According to Postpartum Support International, one in five women and one in ten men may experience depression and anxiety in the perinatal period.
Just in Tennessee, the state’s department of health sends surveys to moms who had recently given birth to ask them about their experiences before, during and after pregnancy.
Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) report said in 2022, 12.75% self-reported depression within three months before pregnancy, 13.39% self-reported depression during pregnancy and 17.11% self-reported post-partum depressive symptoms.
“In the first couple weeks you can feel really weepy. You can feel anxious and tender,” said Dr. Julia Wood, a psychiatrist in Knoxville. “But you should be able to sleep when the baby sleeps, and you should be able to feel like you’re having time bonding with the baby and maybe not eating like you should be losing weight really quickly, not getting out of bed, feeling like you can’t you know keep up, keep up with things.”
PSI and the Tennessee Initiative for Prenatal Quality Care said other symptoms include:
- Feeling sad or “empty”
- Lack of interest in normal activities
- Feeling hopeless, guilty or worthless
- Feeling that you are a bad parent
- Problems concentrating or making decisions
- Thoughts of hurting your baby, even though you can’t imagine acting on them
- Thoughts of death or suicide
“What I think that everybody should know is that there is treatment out there,” Wood said.
May is Maternal Mental Health Month, a time to bring awareness to these feelings.
Christy Stewart knows first hand what it’s like to struggle with perinatal mental health.
“So in the year leading up to getting pregnant, I experienced some major life changes,” Stewart said. “Then I became pregnant, which was for our family. It was really exciting and happy news, but I had no idea what was coming. And so the perfect storm was kind of building and I had pretty significant anxiety during my pregnancy. But then after I gave birth, it really, really intensified.”
Stewart said she felt a loss of control when she was pregnant, even worries that she would have a bad outcome. When she finally gave birth to her daughter, her experience wasn’t what she had hoped.
“I ended up having to have a C-section because she was breech, and I expected to be awake and have memories of my child being born, and I had complications with my spinal injection. It didn’t work and so then I had to have general anesthesia,” Stewart explained. “And so all these things that I was hoping for with the birthing process were quite opposite. I woke up and had no memory of her being born.”
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Not only did Stewart have to recover physically, but mentally as well. Ultimately she noticed trouble sleeping and eating.
“I never had trouble sleeping and then all of a sudden three weeks postpartum, the ability to sleep was just kind of ‘poof,’ taken away from my brain,” Stewart said. “And so what it was replaced with was crippling anxiety.”
Stewart brought up her concerns a her first postpartum OB appointment. Her provider wrote a prescription for 90 days. She then talked with her primary care doctor.
“I think he was like, ‘OK, this is more complex than just write a prescription and hope for the best.’ And so at that point he recommended that I see a specialist, to see a psychiatrist or a mental health provider,” Stewart said.
She called a few providers, but said many had a months-long wait to get in, or weren’t taking new patients. She eventually found a program where she could see a psychiatrist, get medications and then later, get connected with a psychiatrist who specialized in perinatal mental health.
“Sometimes they can take a long time to feel completely like you’re back to yourself. And I never really felt like I was back to who I was before,” Stewart said. “It was a new version of me that probably was stronger and had gone through suffering and all of that. But I felt more like myself probably two years postpartum.”
Postpartum Support International is one of many groups that aims to help families. They have a directory of providers and support groups. The US Health Resources and Services Administration also has a 24/7, free and confidential National Maternal Health Hotline, where you can call or text a trained counselor can listen and connect you to other groups or health care professionals. It’s available in both English and Spanish and they have interpreters that can help in over 60 languages. That number is 833-TLC-MAMA.
PSI and TIPQC also recommends asking family and friends for help with things like errands and chores if you feel overwhelmed, staying active and eating healthy, and ask your care provider about medications you can safely use during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
If you’d like to share your story about maternal health, email Emily at [email protected] or fill out this form.
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