Did you know that most new mothers experience some baby blues? First, there’s the anxiety and stress they feel because there’s so much they don’t know about what’s coming next. Next, there’s the likelihood that they are getting very little sleep! In addition, more than 70 percent of new mothers also react to the quick drop in estrogen and progesterone after birth and the quick increase in prolactin levels (for breastfeeding). All of these chemical changes affect the brain’s emotional stability centers and can trigger the mood swings we call baby blues.1

The good news is that the changes are time-limited and self-correcting; after two to four weeks post-natal, baby blues usually lift on their own. But postpartum depression (PPD) is not a form of baby blues gone wild. PPD is different from baby blues in many ways:

Although baby blues can mean unexpected and unexplained sadness, fatigue, and heightened worrying, the symptoms are usually mild enough to allow for daily functioning and bonding with the new baby. The symptoms of PPD, on the other hand, are more severe and usually include feelings of hopelessness, guilt about not feeling happy, or even suicidal thoughts. Since daily functioning is impaired, PPD can affect children as well as........

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