Postpartum Depression

I am currently expecting our 7th baby. Having experienced postpartum depression before, I know that it's important to know what it is - how to identify what is happening, what to do to alleviate stress, and how to find good medical care.

I was not prepared for ppd - it was with my 4th baby, but as I had never experienced it before, it just blindsided me.

I was lucky - I had a good doctor who did not just label me crazy and give me a psychotropic drug. Instead, he identified the hormonal imbalances, found out what was happening (or not happening!) to me in terms of sleep, and discussed with me the importance of good nutritional supplements.

I just found out that Brooke Shields was given Paxil for her postpartum depression. She also suffered a common side effect of Paxil - after stopping it, she became suicidal and homicidal - thinking of driving her car into a wall with her baby in the backseat.

Her doctor may not have known that this is a common problem with Paxil - that people taking it, at the beginning and when they go off the drug, are 4 times more likely to be suicidal. Not just "crazy people" - but otherwise healthy test subjects have proven this.

The doctor probably did not know because the makers of Paxil hid those studies - and the studies that show it is no better than a placebo in handling depression - from the FDA.

But her doctor SHOULD have known that a low progesterone level (which Brooke had, per her own doctor) is not treatable with Paxil. Hormonal therapy helps that.

Here are some valuable resources for information about postpartum depression:
Truth about postpartum depression - not psychiatric pseudoscience

Postpartum Depression and Paxil

About PPD - Postpartum depression

Gentle Birth