What is postpartum depression?
Postpartum depression or postnatal depression is a type of mood disorder after childbirth when new mothers experience mood swings, fatigue and low appetites. This can be due to various reasons such as a difficult delivery, hormonal fluctuations, feeling unwell after child birth or tiredness and stress looking after a new born baby. If you suffer from severe depression, it is advisable to seek medical treatment. If you are simply feeling the blues, support from your family and loved ones can usually work wonders in helping you cope with your depression and tide over the moodness.
How to prevent postpartum depression?
If you have confinement nanny, you can ask her to prepare the following for you:
- Making a tea using licorice root (gan cao), wheat, red dates and brown sugar.
- Take some sweet foods such as red dates, black dates, raisins and longans.
- Lotus seed and lily bud are good for calming nerves and reducing anxiety.
- Eat longans for blood nourishment and to help soothe your nerves.
Most importantly, you should learn to relax and take things easily. You may also want to consider post natal massage, yoga or less intense exercises. Having a good post natal massage not only help you relieve you from backache or pain but mentally as well.