honest stories please….

I’ve suffered from anxiety and depression most of my life, and ptsd within the last few years. It took a long time to realize I needed medication but once I got on it, it has really helped. My husband is amazing and supportive. In pregnancy my mental health was the best it ever was. Postpartum has been rough (5 months pp now) but it is getting better. Motherhood has been the greatest gift I have ever received.

I take medication and continued it throughout pregnancy and post partum. First at lower doses than pre pregnancy then at higher doses toward the end of my pregnancy. It’s just specific to that particular med. Not saying yours will need a higher dose. I made it through pregnancy, postpartum, personal tragedy and I’ve never felt more stable mentally. My son is nine months old now. Best of luck to you. You got this! 💕

@Alyssa I second this motherhood seriously changes you , it really helps. 🥹

I have borderline and struggled throughout my pregnancy and throughout motherhood. It does get hard but it depends on the person

For me the pregnancy was a breeze everyone is taking care of you and pampering you and then boom 💥 baby is here and it felt like I didn't matter anymore. The sleep deprivation and the constant needs are overwhelming and basically just felt like a servant 24/7. This really affected my mental health and I felt like I didn't have my own identity, had unmet needs and felt so exhausted, I had mom rage because of it. The depression got pretty bad to the point of intrusive thoughts about dying since I felt so hopeless. It didn't help that I had a baby with a temperament that was fuzzy and not go with the flow. It started getting better at 2 years, but now I'm preggo again and nervous about going into that again.

thanks all for being so honest x

Just be prepared for post partum depression as best you can and expect it. Not to sound negative but I prepared with my therapist and I still ended up hospitalized for my PPD

It’s really hard, but it’s also really rewarding. I think the lack of sleep, and I mean severe sleep deprivation, really affected me. I was breastfeeding and that probably made my life harder. I think formula or combination feeding would have helped in hindsight, to take some of the pressure off of me and let me get a block of 4 hours sleep.

It’s all so worth it let me tell u so yeah it’s hard but rewarding

That being said I'm better now and on medication and weekly therapy but it's still hard, I think having someone to talk to helps

I had the weirdest experience of this to be honest...diagnosed with major depressive disorder as a teen and so was really dreading the post-partum depression, etc. I genuinely feel I never got it. I was also concerned about bonding with my baby due to my mental health issues, cptsd and the like, but we have the greatest bond and I felt connected from the moment I saw him (first time mum also). I went up on my anti-depressants after his birth, but this was more so due to severe stress taking place in my personal life than anything else. You got this mama...as my perinatal psych always says, statistics actually reveal that those with negative/realistic concerns around their mental health and parenting actually fair the best in how they handle becoming a parent. Here if ever you wanna talk ♥️

Go to Isha center Tennesse or vipassana

@Jojo thank you for being so open. i have a therapist i see weekly for day to day stresses and midwife is organising a multi service team for postpartum support. wishing you the best on the rest of your journey x

@Kira thank you for such a positive yet real message ! really appreciate it. i worry im over thinking it all too much out of fear of being unwell however i know i have lots of support if that were to happen x

@shruti thanks but i’m in the uk

i have borderline and before i found out i was pregnant with my first i was in a really bad place with severe depression and anxiety. i was on multiple medications but came off all of them when i found out. it wasn't under medical advice and some were safe to continue taking but i just didn't want to. after the initial withdrawal of them, getting through the high emotions of the first trimester, i levelled out and was the best i had been mentally in the longest time. that continued through the whole pregnancy and up until i became pregnant with my second. during that my MH went downhill and i started struggling more. she's 6 months old now and i still have days i really struggle and need to take myself off for a cry and to call my partner for comfort. as long as you know yourself enough to know when you need help and have people to ask for help. they're my biggest blessing and no matter how hard a day we have, i always go to bed thinking how grateful i am to have my babies..

Yes, I experienced PPD twice after my first two children. However, I didn’t have it with my last two. From time to time, I still deal with bad anxiety when I feel overwhelmed or under too much stress. Medication and therapy have been helpful for me. Additionally, the support of my husband, friends, and family as well

I ended up with PND. Worst three months of my life but with support, meds and a lot of patience I recovered