Maternal Mental Health
MATERNAL
MENTAL HEALTH
The
World Health Organization defines maternal mental health as “a state of
well-being in which a mother realizes her own abilities, can cope with the
normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to
make a contribution to her community”
Maternal
mental health challenges are considered to be rare but recent studies show that
they are not. These challenges occur during pregnancy or in the first year
after childbirth. More than 1 in every 10 woman faces this challenge as per
researches. If these are left undiagnosed, it can be devastating for all
concerned, especially to the mother and the newborn. If you ask me whether maternal
mental health matters or not, yes of course it matters.
Mothers
with these challenges usually present with low mood, loss of interest or
pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low
energy, inability to look after newborns and poor concentration – symptoms that
profoundly affect maternal functioning and her role.
The
mental health of a pregnant woman is equally important as her physical health.
It is said that a healthy body and a healthy mind will together make a happy
human. But many people don’t realize this fact. In many cultures, postpartum
physical care is taken proficiently but completely flouting the mental state of
that woman. Also, the stigma towards mental health issues and postpartum
depression is so serious that a woman herself is not willing to discuss the
fact that she is dealing with some mental health issues with any family member
or anyone in her social circle.
This
is the time when she actually needs help or support from family and friends or
people around her. The whole body of a woman will undergo several changes
during pregnancy and childbirth. Then marks the onset of sleeplessness and
constant attention demands by the child. As you say, “once a mother always a
mother”. So a woman takes time to cope up with all these factors and hence a
certain amount of struggle will be there with her during the journey.
People
need to be aware that there is nothing wrong with feeling anxious or depressed
during pregnancy and after childbirth. There are several things which family
members especially spouse and parents can do to help her cope with the
situation. Talking to her and acknowledging her feelings is one such thing.
Giving her assurance that whenever she needs help her family will be there will
be a great relief for the sufferer. This will make the woman more comfortable
that if she needs to share about any mental health issues, she won’t hesitate
at all.
In
order to change the world one needs to change themselves first. Only personal
transformation can lead to social transformation. First of all, one needs to
accept the fact that she is going through some emotional distress, or rather
her mental health is being challenged. The woman should realize that this is
something that is happening as real. Acceptance will definitely lead her to
seek help or guidance. So one should “speak out and seek help”.
Seeking
professional help from mental health experts helps a lot of people in such
situations. These things can help to ease the difficulty to a certain level. If
not diagnosed at the right time and not treated properly, it might get worse
for the mother and newborn.
As
fellow human beings, we can do many things as well. Why don’t we start to
listen to them, why don’t we start asking them how they have been and how did
they manage so far. Tell them how great they are doing. Let’s talk about
maternal mental health to them, because maternal mental health matters!
We
all have mental health. Many of us might face mental health challenges at some
or the other point in our life. So we should value our mental wellness more
than anything else as if we don’t have the former, then we won’t be able to
appreciate the value of anything that we acquired.
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