Signs of postnatal depression.

There are lots of things that you may plan on doing and experiences that you want to createwith your new baby, but in those early days the focus should be on forming a bond andmaking sure you are both feeling healthy and happy. All of the other stuff can come a bitlater on when you have found a routine and you feel a little more confident in what you aredoing. There is absolutely no need to rush about thinking that you have to do everythingand be everywhere. It is perfectly fine to say no! If others want to see you and also meetbaby, but you aren’t feeling up to it or you barely slept the night before, then saying no isabsolutely acceptable and is your right.

Those first few weeks with a new baby in the house can be a very stressful time. Some babies are super chilled out and will sleep lots, other babies may have day and night completely confused and have you up at all hours, and some babies may be struggling with health conditions that you still need to fully get to grips with. Even the most chilled out baby will still have a profound impact on your life and your normal routines. It is absolutely okay, and pretty normal, to feel ‘off balance’ as you find your feet.

Even if this is not your first baby and you feel like you know all the things you need to be doing, there can still be challenges, like how do you ensure that any older siblings are able to bond with baby and not be jealous or resentful of them? How do you juggle the school run with finding a routine with baby that works for the whole family? As with most things there is now single right or wrong way that you can approach these situations but there are things that you can do to try and prepare.

How you cope and how you feel after each new addition to the family can be completely different. Those feelings can also be out of your control and can creep up on you or come like a bolt out of the blue. The movies paint a very romantic picture of what becoming a mother is like, they show us instant unbreakable loving bonds between mother and child but it doesn’t always happen in that way. In fact, there are many women who struggle to develop a bond with their child in the early days, most of the time that bond will form but at a slower rate than we may have been led to believe. But there are also the times when other factors need to be considered and when more formal help might be needed.

What is Postnatal Depression?

When to seek help.