Feven Binega-Northcott had the ideal second pregnancy, but when she brought her daughter home from the hospital she wasn’t happy.

While it is normal for women to feel moody after a birth due to changing hormone levels, Mrs Northcott’s blues went on and on.

When her maternity leave ended, and she went back to work, she felt like someone had died. Her moods swung sharply up and down.

“I was very hard on myself about it,” she said, “I had what I wanted — a second healthy child — and I wasn’t happy.”

Eventually, Postpartum Depression was diagnosed — a condition that impacts ten to 15 per cent of mothers.

Changing hormone levels make it normal for mothers to feel moody for about two weeks after a birth. PPD is usually more severe and lasts longer. Symptoms include feelings of despondency and mood swings. In extreme cases, women may harm themselves or their baby.

PPD can negatively impact the mother bonding experience and affect the relationship between the mother and other family members.

“I never had negative thoughts about my baby,” said Mrs Northcott, “but I felt a lot of resentment towards my husband Jonathan. It definitely impacted our relationship.”

Soon after her daughter was born she started to feel very disorganised and moody.

“I was very social and yet I didn’t want anyone to visit for fear they would see how messy my house was,” she said. “Any little thing would set me off.”

She had PPD diagnosed when her daughter was about 14 months old.

“I think it happened for hormonal reasons,” said Mrs Northcott. “I was 22 when my son was born and I was in my 30s when my daughter was born. I was older and maybe that has an impact.”

She was prescribed medication, but refused it. “I don’t even take Tylenol,” she said.

She took the route of counselling and exercise to boost her endorphin levels. She is now back to normal and loving being a wife and mother.

One of the people she turned to in her hour of need was her doula, Fiona Dill.

Mrs Dill admitted it was sometimes tricky to determine whether someone had PPD as there are natural highs and lows associated with having a new baby.

“It can be normal to feel overwhelmed and not want people to visit,” she said. “It can be normal to feel like your partner doesn’t understand you.

“But if those feelings start affecting your ability to cope, communicate and enjoy your baby it may be outside the realm of normal. I believe it is, partly, about the build up of lack of sleep, and the mother’s feeling of being closed in.

“I think there are also external pressures that we often take on ourselves as mothers to be perfect. With so much information out there it is easy to feel like you are failing. Sometimes all a new mom needs is a shoulder to cry on, someone to listen to or additional support so she can make time for herself.

“Exercise can be a great way of women feeling better through their natural endorphins. However, some women, after careful evaluation, might need antidepressants.”

The time it takes to recover from PDD varies from person to person, she said.

“It depends on the circumstances. With some people it is situational. They may just need to talk to someone or need extra support in the home and that can be fixed fairly quickly.

“Other women may need medication and that is typically an ongoing thing. Over time, the mother may start to wean herself off the medication.

“Typically, with medications that impact your mood, they take three to four weeks to start being effective. It’s not overnight.”

Mrs Dill believed a lot of cases go unreported because people think their feelings are normal. She said paediatricians are in an ideal position to catch PPD, but are often more focused on the baby’s well-being.

“PPD can adversely impact the baby if the mother is so caught up in her depression that she cannot respond to the baby’s emotional cues such as crying or smiling,” she said.

The doula added that she was unaware of any support groups for people with PPD in Bermuda.

“I asked at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute about it, and they said they didn’t have any support group,” she said.

MWI offers a more general programme for people suffering from depressive illnesses. Mary, not her real name, developed PPD after a traumatic pregnancy and early delivery of twin boys. She struggled with it for three years before it was diagnosed. It took her about eight weeks to feel normal again.

What she wishes now is that she’d been able to find the support when she needed it.

“I could not find any support system in the community for people with PPD,” she said. “The only support I found was through friends and family. I had heard about PPD but had always thought that could not happen to me. I think a support group would help.”

Women with a history of depression can be at a greater risk for developing PPD.

Ann, not her real name, went to the doctor for help almost immediately after having her son.

“I had a history of depression,” she said. “I went off antidepressants so that I could have a baby. I did well during my pregnancy but started to notice symptoms during the first week after delivery.”

The doctor told her and her husband to monitor the situation and sent her home. Her feelings worsened.

She made the decision to stop breastfeeding so that she could go back on antidepressants. She promptly became pregnant again and she now has a two-year-old and a ten-month-old.

“My husband gave me a night to myself at a hotel when both of them were six months old, and it was heavenly,” she said. “It really helped.”

She still has her bad days.

“Today alone, I have cried four times,” she said. “I feel like I have changed at least 90 diapers today. When you have one, at least one parent can rest while the other takes care of the child. When you have two, then you are both always occupied with the children.”

For more information about PPD talk to your doctor or see www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/women/postpartum-depression. You can also contact the MWI Acute Clinic at 236-3770.

The Meet-A-Mum Association (MAMA) is planning to hold special coffee mornings for new mothers going through difficult times. For more information contact Rebecca Lucking on 595-6026.