Congratulations on the birth of her little girl!

It bothers me however, how little society as a whole knows about Postpartum Depression.

PPD can develop during or after pregnancy – it can occur starting within a **year** following delivery – some women won’t develop PPD until several months or more following delivery. Certainly the more time that goes by with no symptoms following delivery, it reduces the likelihood that it will occur.

I have dealt with PPD following 4 of my 6 children. I didn’t have a history of depression prior to childbearing. Twice it started several months following delivery. The third time within weeks and the last time started up 3 months before delivery; over a year later I am still off and on anti-depressants trying to cope with the lingering anxiety.

The first time I didn’t even realize what it was – PPD was not something I had ever heard of 15 years ago. It was not until my second son was born over 8 years ago and I went through it a second time, that my doctor gave it a name. This was 8 months following delivery – though the symptoms had been building for a few months at this point.

I truly hope that she will find the next year (and many more to come) to be joyful and fulfilling.

I just wanted to point out that getting several weeks past delivery doesn’t mean you won’t develop it later on. So many new moms are given little to no information on PPD. Information that in the cases where it does become an issue, could really help them in the diagnoses and treatment.