Mother wey experience postpartum depression
Chioma Fakorede, wife of di Commissioner of Youth and Sport for Oyo state, South West Nigeria, happy well-well wen doctor confam say she don get belle. Dis na her first pregnancy afta her marriage to her husband Seun Fakorede.
Even before di doctor give her di good news, she don already do her own research on pregnancy and don sabi how she go take pamper di baby wey dey grow for her womb.
Chioma don sabi di kain medicine she go dey use, di kain exercise she fit dey do for di different stages, di kain clothes she go wear, di food she go chop and wetin she fit drink.
As expert for wellness and yoga exercise, Chioma no leave anything to chance as she don read about all di do's and don’ts of pregnancy. However, wetin she no prepare for na post-pregnancy – wey be afta delivery.
Chioma for one Instagram post, where she tok about her struggles afta she born finish say, "nobody or nothing prepare her for di “Post-partum phase”.
Just like Chioma, Emiene Erame wey be mama of three pikin say wen she born her first pikin, di joy no be here, she say she bin dey all ova di moon and she bond well wit her baby. But she no feel di same wit her oda two children, as she no get di kain joy she bin feel wen she get her first child. Wit di oda two children, she no dey happy and she dey moody. Na later, she no say wetin she dey experience na postpartum depression.
Sake of her post partum phase wit her oda two children, Emiene don swear say she no go born any more children.
Apart from these two, some women don get di boldness to tok about dia postpartum experience. While some dey mild, odas dey very serious and complicated wey make dem land for mental health hospital.
Some women on top social media bin tok about how dem lose dia memory afta dem born, some say e be like say make dem kill di child and kill themselves. Odas say dem begin forget things, one woman say she lose all her sense organs, anoda woman say she bin go blind. These na few out of di many experiences wey some women wey just put to bed dey go through.
Talking about postpartum experience no be something wey many women for dis part of di world like to dey tok about sake of stigma and how pipo go dey see dem if dem open up.
She say she feel like say she be failure as a mother wey gatz depend on baby formular for her new-born.
“Wen time reach to feed my baby, nothing come out, I no dey produce any milk. I dey struggle on how to carry di baby and how to properly put im mouth for breast. I born at past 5am and my child no chop until almost 10am.”
“Di specialists say make I give am formular because e gatz chop. I no remember wen last I feel like a failure before dat day.
“Dis na so much of a shocker because no one bin ever tell me dis fit happun, let alone formula-feeding your baby at birth.
“Wetin pipo dey tok before then na exclusive feeding and how e dey important to breastfeed di baby, within di first few hours of birth for bonding, colostrum and all lactation terminology fir fit ever think of.
“Chioma don already fail for dis! I dey very frustrated. I remember say I dey cry for hospital during dis period.” Chima tok.
Sake of dis stress of breastfeeding, Chioma tok say she begin get sore nipples and her nipples begin crack and e come dey pain her seriously and di baby go still suck on injured skin. To breastfeed come dey fear her.
She say she begin dey lose am, wen she gatz breastfeed her baby for night but e go cry because of di low supply of milk and she go dey so frustrated and get a meltdown too.
“I start to dey fear to breastfeed sake of di trauma, I come dey feel guilty say I dey give am formular chop.
She add say her husband notice say she dey lose am slowly and she need help.
Anoda postpartum experience she suffer from na bonding. She no instantly connect wit her baby.
“I no instantly connect to di baby! No sparks, no butterflies for my heart, wey make me feel more guilty! I no feel like say I be im mama, I feel like im milk supplier because I get many pipo wey dey help wit am. Someone always dey to carry am, di only time I get to carry am, na wen dem call me to give breast milk.” She tok.
Emiene postpartum experience
In di case of Emiene, she bin struggle to bond wit her children wen she born dem and she experience dis sense of hopelessness. Although, wit di first child, she dey okay but di oda two, she experience postpartum depression wey make her say she no go ever born anoda child again.
“Di second time wey I born, I no too feel am, I no too bond wit di pikin, I just thank God, I no too happy. Di third one na di same. I no connect wit di child and I feel dat way for a long time. Everything I do na effort, I bin struggle to connect wit di child.
“I bin feel hopeless, nothing dey ginger me, my heart go just dey beat, I go just dey fear and I no fit control am. Sometimes only me go just dey and I go begin dey cry for no reason.” Emiene tok.
Medical experts explain wetin be postpartum and di symptoms
Globally, postpartum depression na one of di most common but often unrecognised complications of childbirth. Yearly, e dey affect 10-15% of women wey just born according to di National Institute of Health.
Plenty studies no too dey on di statistics of women wey get postpartum depression for Nigeria but some sabi pipo say e dey affect up to one in seven women, dat na about 15% women.
Dis rate often dey higher in developing kontris wia about 15.6 and 19.8% of pregnant and new mothers dey experience psychiatric disorders.
Frontiers in Global Women Health observe say postpartum depression (PPD) prevalence vary between 1.9 and 82.1% globally; 2.2 and 74% in developed and developing kontris respectively.
Two medical experts wey follow BBC Pidgin tok explain wetin be postpartum, types of postpartum, causes, symptoms, treatments and di best time to seek for help.
Di sabi pipo say postpartum na something wey at least 20% of women wey just born pikin dey experience, but di levels different and di causes no be di same.
Dr Maymunah Kadiri wey be mental health expert for Pinnacle Hospital Lagos say postpartum blues dey, dat one na feeling wey women wey just deliver dey get. E dey harmless, nothing to worry about and afta few days, dem dey get ova am.
Di serious one na postpartum depression and di one wey worse pass na postpartum psychosis.
She say postpartum depression na sickness and some of di symptoms na lack of sleep, anxiety, sad mood, loss of appetite, mood swings, di women go dey cry for no reason, among odas. She add say men too dey get am but e dey rare.
“Postpartum depression no dey go immediately. Upon say e dey common, pipo no dey quickly recognise am and dem no dey detect am early.”
For Postpartum psychosis, Dr Maymunah say e no too common and di symptoms na hallucination, disorganized thinking or behaviour, thoughts of self-harm, di woman also fit dey hear voices, etc.
Causes of postpartum and wen to seek for help
“If you don already dey depressed, you fit get am, domestic violence, lack of support, toxic relationship, family wahala.”
Consultant Psychiatrist for Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos-Nigeria, Dr Oluwaniyi Stephen wey be emotional specialist say dis na some of di tins wey dey cause postpartum depression.
E say 1 out of 6 women for Nigeria dey experience am and na something wey dem fit treat if dem quickly seek medical attention.
"Different studies dey and for Nigeria, between 14-23%, dat na 1 in 8 or 6 women wey just born."
Dr Oluwaniyi add say di challenge na say most women wey dey undergo dis problem no dey open up sake of societal discrimination. "Most times dis women dey tink say na dia fault and go blame themselves for di mood swings, di lack of love for dia babies and why dem dey feel di way dem dey feel, sake of dat dem no go open up, so dat pipo no go judge dem, dem go hide until di problem escalate."
For solution, di doctor advise say make di partner dey understanding, "Post-delivery na di best time to show your wife love and support."
E also say make woman wey just born no dey left alone as she suppose dey surrounded wit enough support. Pipo wey go help her wit di child and house chores as too much work for mama wey just born pikin fit lead to postpartum.
"E dey highly treatable and e dey doisappear like magic. Di affected woman need post-natal care, counselling, medication and for severe cases, we go apply shock therapy," Dr Olaniyi tok.
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