•Dr Yusuf Adam from The Nairobi West Hospital says Postpartum depression is a form of depression that strikes a few days after childbirth and if not addressed, mothers suffering from it might even die by suicide or harm the baby.
•He says after delivery some mental health conditions can affect a woman who has just delivered.
A baby's birth brings more joy to the parents and especially the mother.
However, stress, anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy are frequently present.
Faith (not her real name) says she underwent almost the same symptoms.
She had depressed mood swings, would cry too much, had difficulty bonding with the babies, insomnia, intense irritability, anger and fear of not being a good mother.
This was in 2020 after she gave birth to twins.
She was a first-time mum.
Faith says it all started two weeks after giving birth.
"I have never had depression before, only normal stress, and I never thought I would get depressed because of having children. The first week was okay because my sister was around and she helped with taking care of the babies," she says.
However, Faith says everything changed after her sister returned to her home and left her with her husband and the newborns.
She says her husband would leave the house in the morning for work and return in the evening.
"In the evening, he used to come home, hold the babies for a short while and sleep because he had to report for work early morning," Faith says.
The mother of two says things started going south when she would stay awake because one of her twins had colic and cried a lot at night.
Colic is when a baby cries for long without a reason and it affects some babies during the first three to four months.
"The baby was crying, I couldn’t sleep. Sometimes I also cried. At the end of one month, I was almost going crazy. By the second month, I didn't even want to see my children, so I requested my husband to let us get a house help and he agreed," Faith says.
Dr Yusuf Adam from The Nairobi West Hospital says Postpartum depression is a form of depression that strikes a few days after childbirth and if not addressed, mothers suffering from it might even die by suicide or harm the baby.
He says after delivery some mental health conditions can affect a woman who has just delivered.
Faith says she even felt like the twins had complicated her life and at times regretted having them.
"It got to the point where I would pick up my phone, go to the toilet, and stay for hours. When the children cried, I would tell my house help to give them formula milk," she says.
"I used to think were it not for the babies, my life would have been normal like before."
Faith says as days went by, her husband suggested that they see a doctor.
She says she agreed to her husband's suggestion and it was discovered she had PPD and she was advised to see a therapist which she did.
Her husband was also advised to help her with the babies so that she could rest and not feel overburdened.
She says their church therapist helped her take charge of her emotions and her husband was there to assist her.
However, Faith says even though she has recovered, the thought of having another baby traumatises her.
Key findings from the National Institutes of Health also indicate that PPD occurs in about 6.5 per cent to 20 per cent of women.
It occurs more commonly in adolescent females, mothers who deliver premature infants, and women living in urban areas.
Dr Yusuf says a more severe form of postpartum blues ‘baby blues’ is what is known as PPD which affects the mothers’ experience after childbirth.
He says postpartum blues happens to almost 85 per cent of women.
"The woman remains very emotional and has increased anxiety and worries about herself and taking care of the baby but this does not require any medication because it disappears after a few days," he says.
"It is also referred to as peripartum depression because it can start during pregnancy and continue after childbirth," he says.
At this stage, Dr Yusuf says worries and anxiety overwhelm the woman to the point she cannot function or do simple tasks like taking care of herself or the baby.
"But even more important than that, is every woman who is going into labour or maternity should be screened for risks of developing postpartum depression. These risks include previous history of postpartum depression," he says.
"Any woman who has had postpartum depression before or has a history of major depressive disorder outside pregnancy has a likelihood of having the same in subsequent deliveries."
He advises that should one come across such a mother, it is good to involve the right professionals such as a psychologist, psychiatrist or counsellor.
As with any other mental health condition, Dr Yusuf says the first step in addressing postpartum depression is acknowledging it.
"If you think you may be suffering from postpartum depression, seek help," he says.
"Speak to your family, friends, and people around you about what you are feeling since, their support could be enough to alleviate the symptoms significantly."
Dr Yusuf says that medications can also be used as another mode of therapy though in some cases they don’t work because the condition is sometimes resistant to medications.