The Importance of Postpartum Support

Women are doing excellent jobs of preparing for childbirth. They begin labor with many weeks or months of studying, preparing, exercising, and practicing.  Even these women, though, can be side swiped when it comes to the postpartum period.  It's overwhelming, but something that women can also prepare for.
Postpartum support in American is dramatically undervalued.  Women are discharged from the hospital in 48 hours (sometimes less) and expected to go back to work in 6 weeks.  There are no routine/standard home visits or groups for women from their hospital or providers like in many other countries and women are expected to figure it out on their own and basically cope as opposed to thrive.
The rise of postpartum depression has escalated. Up to 80% of women experience postpartum blues or a milder, generally shorter lived and non-medicated form of postpartum depression. While it is often fleeting, it's disconcerting and emotionally taxing. While hormonal changes are often the culprit for postpartum blues, women report that feel they have ample postpartum support from family, friends or professional support (doulas, nurses, midwives, lactation specialists) seldom report postpartum blues and depression.
Postpartum depression occurs about 10% of the time while major depression occurs in 6% of women.  The difference between postpartum depression and postpartum blues is that in order to be diagnosed as depressed, the woman must have the symptoms of depression most of the day, every day for two weeks or longer.
Women who are at risk for postpartum depression include women who have: marital stress, childcare stress, a lack of perceived social support from family and friends, lack of emotional and financial support from the partner, living without a partner, and complications with their own relationship with their mother.  There are other factors that place a women as risk, but each of these aforementioned risk factors involve a perceived sense of lack of support.  It is proven that in cultures where support from extended family is available and where spousal support is encouraged the rates of postpartum depression are lower.  So, as part of a labor team, family, or circle of friends . . . support those mommas!