Mom shares perinatal mood disorder experience to help others
AUSTIN (KXAN) — “Postpartum is like a slap in the face,” Georgetown mom Juliette Ferguson said.
Ferguson, a mom of three boys, said she was stunned after she had her first son. The anxiety was so bad she could not eat or sleep. It would manifest in anger or rage, and she remembers feeling aching loneliness.
“This should have been a massive red flag to myself, to my husband. I was standing in the living room. The baby was screaming, and I was having a time trying to console him. I called my husband, and I was screaming and crying ‘I can’t do this. I don’t know how to do this,'” she said.
One in seven women experiences some form of perinatal mood disorder and one in five experiences anxiety. Reproductive health expert Dr. Kristin Lasseter said it is crucial to tell someone what you are experiencing because untreated mental health issues during pregnancy and afterward can negatively impact the mom and the baby as well.
Ferguson shared her struggles with perinatal mood disorder to help other moms. She said she remembers that time being completely isolating.
Research shows untreated mental unrest can impact the baby’s growth and development inside the womb and later on. Babies have a greater risk of developmental disorders and medical disorders. They can also have a higher risk for autism and struggle with motor development.
Lasseter said moms-to-be can safely take certain medications and they should seek out treatment or tell a doctor should they experience depression or anxiety.
Lasseter said she tends to see women experience perinatal mood disorder during the third trimester. She said depression can look like irritability, being sad, and affecting one’s ability to concentrate.
“Anxiety can be a lot of worrying and sometimes people don’t even realize they are anxious because they don’t feel depressed and they think perinatal mood disorders are just about depression,” Lasseter said. She goes on to explain how anxiety is very real and not screened as often as depression.
For Ferguson, just talking about this could change lives.
“I think it’s important to talk about it so it becomes destigmatized. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your baby. There’s so many women and mothers who have experienced these things and feel that they are alone,” Ferguson said.
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