Recognize the difference between postpartum depression and the baby blues

Catching your beloved baby after giving birth should bring happiness to the mother. Unfortunately, there are mothers who feel sad, anxious, and depressed after giving birth. This condition is known as baby blues syndrome or baby blues syndrome.

Actually, what is it baby blues syndrome and what are the symptoms of this condition? Find out more, let's!

What are the baby blues?

Baby blues syndrome or baby blues syndrome is a mood change after birth that can make a mother feel touched, anxious, or irritable.

Blues syndrome is also known as postpartum blues which is usually experienced by about 80 percent or 4-5 new mothers.

This condition can make the mother impatient, irritable, worried about problems with breastfeeding mothers, to worry about the health of the baby.

In fact, maybe the baby is actually doing well or not experiencing health problems.

In fact, not infrequently, mothers can also feel tired but have trouble sleeping and continue to cry for no apparent reason.

According to Pregnancy Birth and Baby, this syndrome can appear within 3-10 days after giving birth.

This syndrome usually lasts for approximately 2-3 days in the puerperium.

Baby blues syndrome is a different condition from postpartum depression (postpartum depression).

Both of them show symptoms of sadness and anxiety after giving birth.

However, postpartum depression arguably a more severe condition than the blues syndrome because it already shows symptoms of depression.

Although baby blues syndrome is a milder form of postpartum depression, make sure you don't ignore any symptoms that appear.

What are the symptoms of the baby blues?

The term baby blues syndrome is a condition used to describe worry, unhappiness, and fatigue for a few days after childbirth.

This syndrome can be experienced in particular by mothers after giving birth to their first child. This is a very common case.

The symptoms of the baby blues are usually milder than that of postpartum depression (postpartum depression).

Mothers who experience the baby blues generally have the main symptom of a mood (mood) are volatile, have trouble sleeping, cry easily, and are easily anxious.

Various symptomsbaby blues syndromeor baby blues syndrome are as follows:

Mother experiences rapid mood swings
The mother feels anxious and overwhelmed taking care of the baby
Mom feels moody and cranky
Mother felt sad and cried a lot
Mother has difficulty sleeping (insomnia)
Mother has decreased appetite
Mother is impatient, restless, and irritable
Mother has a hard time concentrating

These symptoms can appear during the treatment period after normal delivery, for example when you are doing perineal wound care.

Meanwhile, for mothers who are undergoing post-cesarean section treatment, treatment of the SC (caesarean) wound needs to be done so that the caesarean section scar heals quickly.

What causes the baby blues?

The cause of the baby blues is not certain. However, this syndrome is thought to be related to hormonal changes during the early weeks of birth.

Your body will undergo many adjustments after a normal delivery or a cesarean section.

Your diet will change, physical changes occur, and emotional changes will be affected.

This is because of the stress of having a lot of responsibility on your baby.

The reality of your new role as a parent you may really become aware of after leaving the hospital and starting to become a new mother.

Even though you enjoy being a mother, this new role can make you feel depressed and thus experience this condition.

This condition can also be triggered by physical changes in pregnant women and daily routines, such as fatigue and lack of sleep.

How long do the baby blues last?

Don't worry, your situation will get better soon even though you are currently struggling to overcome this one syndrome.

Baby blues are not a disease and usually only last a few hours or days.

This condition can occur 2-3 days after delivery.

Launching from the American Pregnancy Association, the symptoms of this syndrome usually last for a few minutes or several hours a day.

When compared to postpartum depression, baby blues usually last a shorter time.

Generally, this condition can occur for about two weeks after giving birth.

Meanwhile, postpartum depression can last for several weeks to several months and can interfere with mother's activities if not treated immediately.

This condition usually goes away within a few days without the need to visit a doctor.

Usually, you will feel better with adequate rest and support from those around you.

However, if you continue to feel anxious after giving birth, you probably havepostpartum anxiety.

Immediately consult further to the doctor if you feel you have this condition.

How do you deal with the baby blues?

This syndrome generally goes away on its own, although of course it requires support from husbands, family and friends.

Even so, you should still make various efforts as a way to deal with the baby blues.

Some of the ways to help deal with the baby blues are as follows:

Eating healthy and nutritious food for self-recovery and breastfeeding the baby.
Take a multivitamin and omega 3 to keep your mother healthy.
Do not drink alcohol, as this can aggravate the mother's condition.
Whenever feelings of guilt arise, remind yourself that it is not your fault.
Ask for support from your spouse, family, and people around you to help with recovery.
Attending therapy and counseling individually or in groups.
Taking time for yourself (me time) for a moment.
Share experiences with other new mothers.
Get enough rest because it is very necessary for your body to recover.

If necessary, you can try relaxation, meditation, and a warm bath to calm your mind before bed.

Can the baby blues happen before childbirth?

As previously explained, baby blues syndrome is a mood disorder that affects women after childbirth.

Although it generally occurs after childbirth, not all women feel it at the same time.

Some mothers may feel the baby blues symptoms earlier, namely before giving birth.

This condition is better known as pre-baby blues or antepartum depression (antepartum depression).

If it occurs before childbirth, this syndrome is most likely experienced by women who are experiencing pregnancy for the first time.

This first pregnancy can trigger feelings of excessive fear and anxiety about the labor process that will be faced later.

In addition, there are several other factors that can increase the risk of baby blues during pregnancy, including:

Having a bad relationship with a partner resulting in a lack of social and emotional support for the mother during pregnancy.
Have experienced domestic violence so that her life feels uncomfortable and depressed.

Can this condition be prevented?

So, to prevent the baby blues after giving birth, here are steps you can try:

1. Talk about your concerns

Talk to your doctor about any worries and sadness you are currently feeling.

This means always keeping your prenatal consultation appointments. Often times, health professionals can detect signs of depression that you may not have been aware of.

That way, they can help you control the symptoms before they spill out of control.

Also have a careful discussion with your husband about anything that worries you about becoming a new parent soon.

You can express all your worries about the various things that might happen in the future.

2. Release stress

As a way to prevent the baby blues, it's best to set aside time for yourself regularly during pregnancy or after delivery.

You can do "me time" with a variety of positive activities.

Try doing meditation, deep breathing exercises, beautifying yourself in the salon, or just coffee-coffee meeting and exchanging stories with prospective mothers and other mothers.

That way, you can find some relief knowing that you are not alone.

Because being a parent is a unique experience for every mother.

3. Go to sleep when your baby sleeps

Everyone has heard this classic advice, "Go to sleep when baby sleeps."

Unfortunately, too many mothers fail to really do it.

Most mothers often use baby-free time to clean up the house or shop for baby supplies before they forget it.

Actually it is not wrong to do this. However, you shouldn't miss a golden opportunity to steal your time off.

Therefore, don't hesitate to ask for help from others.

You can ask for help from your husband, mother, or hire a household assistant to take care of housework or care for the baby.

In addition to not being completely drained of your energy, you can also avoid stress.

Husbands, show your care and affection for your wife by helping her take care of the baby, such as changing the baby's diaper, bathing the baby, to carrying the baby.

Husbands can also accompany the baby when the mother is busy. Also try to spend time listening to your wife's story.

Your wife may want to tell you something to lighten her burden.

Sometimes, the wife has problems breastfeeding and this may stress her out.

Just talking to you, however, may make your wife feel much calmer.