I said on the Postnatal Depression Toolkit page that not everything being covered is going to be applicable to everyone. This is one of those suggestions that is aimed more at the fathers who are suffering from PND than the mothers. So if you are a mother in all this, then feel free to pick another option. Or you may be concerned about your partner, in which case, there may be something here for you to read.
If you’re reading this then there’s a chance that you might be looking for ways to help with postnatal depression. What I have here is a toolkit. It’s a survival guide, advice page, suggestion list, whatever name you want to give it. But it’s aim is to help someone get through […]
For whatever reason, I’ve been a little reflective of my postnatal depression this week. I think it was down to the fact that I was actually on Twitter for the first time during a #PNDhour, (which is Wednesdays between 8-9pm) and I obviously got talking to a bunch of people about postnatal depression. So I thought I’d sit here and give an update on where I am now. Personally I feel like it’s important to not only hear about people’s struggle with PND, but also to hear something from those out the other side. After all, that’s what everyone wants, to be on the other side.
I’ll be honest. For us, it’s been incredibly easy getting Isabelle to engage in as much tummy time as possible. Truth be told, she really isn’t fussed on being on her back. She’ll lie there, but unless you’re changing her, playing with her legs or doing something stupid to amuse her, she doesn’t like it. Instead, what she does want, is to be on her front.
We’ve also been incredibly lucky that Isabelle has had really good neck strength from a very early age. Here she is a little under 4 weeks old, sat happily in her bouncer without the need to get held up:
When I tell people that my wife still breastfeeds they tend to see me as incredibly lucky. After all, I pretty much sleep through the nights. I have done since Isabelle was around 8 weeks old. In part, its mostly down to the fact that Rachel still breastfeeds.
Postnatal depression, much like depression in general, is a horrendous, crippling condition. But it’s something that may have been developed over time to benefit our survival as a species. As much as we like to think we’ve come a long way since our ancestors of the Neolithic era, in reality, we’re not that different. Of course, our technology has drastically changed, but underneath the gadgets and the gizmos we’re still pretty much the same animal.