The birth of a child is happiness for the whole family, even if this event was not planned, for a long 9 months, future parents got used to their new position and became happier every day.
Fear replaces happiness
Recently, there are more and more cases when the joy of the birth of a baby is overshadowed by the serious consequences associated with mental disorders in the mother. A few days after giving birth, a woman may begin to experience unreasonable fear for her child, hide from others, cry or laugh just like that. All this speaks of a serious problem - postpartum psychosis in women. Her behavior clearly expresses an inadequate attitude to what is happening and rejection of the new situation.
Postpartum psychosis: definition
You cannot ignore the problem, it is important to immediately seek qualified help. Postpartum psychosis is a severe pathological condition, against which physical abnormalities can develop. A nervous, irritable, withdrawn mother can harm not only herself, first of all, the newborn suffers from this.
The insidiousness of the disease lies in the complete absence of symptoms during pregnancy. It is impossible to suspect postpartum depression and psychosis. Doctors tend to think that psychosis occurs against the background of hormonal imbalance, which is always present after childbirth.
How to recognize: the main signs
Unfortunately, a woman is not always in a hurry to get qualified help, because she is unaware of the problem, does not want to accept it, or is confused about the symptoms. This condition is rarer than postpartum depression, so it is worth knowing about the signs of its manifestation, and not only the patient, but also her relatives.
Symptoms of postpartum psychosis:
- inadequate assessment of oneself;
- mood swings;
- hallucinations;
- confusion;
- delusional thoughts;
- anxiety;
- irritability;
- appetite disorder;
- incoherent speech;
- insomnia;
- excessive suspicion.
The occurrence of a problem is usually noticed 3-4 days after birth, loss of touch with reality is one of the first signs. Psychosis can manifest itself in a mild form or immediately in a severe form. Sometimes a young mother cannot even take care of the child on her own.
It is difficult for a woman to formulate her thoughts, even more difficult to say them out loud. Even close people cannot achieve intelligible content of speech. Often there is an unacceptable habit for a breastfeeding mother - strange food cravings.
Important to know! Hallucinations are visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory. The most dangerous are visual and auditory, just they are observed in the period of postpartum psychosis.
A window on the ninth floor a person can take for a door and go out. The voices in your head can talk about various things, including suicide and physical abuse of a child.
Causes of postpartum psychosis
Scientists have found that the causes of psychosis can be hereditary, and the social factor has practically no effect on the development of the process. The main causes of postpartum psychosis are hormonal changes, the physical stress that every woman's body undergoes during pregnancy and childbirth.
The risk factors for the development of the disease include drug and nicotine addiction of the woman in labor. If you have had traumatic brain injury, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia in the past, the risk of postpartum psychosis increases. Pathology is characterized by two stages of development - exacerbation and remission. A calm state and bright spots in the mind indicate that a person is he althy.
Seizures can occur and pass spontaneously, regardless of environmental factors. Or at certain times of the day.
Attitude towards the child
Major problems often occur during or immediately after childbirth, especially if the delivery was by caesarean section. Sometimes the patient loses a lot of blood, she develops postpartum sepsis(blood poisoning). A woman should rejoice at the birth of a child, but instead refuses to recognize him as her own. She may begin to feel angry or completely indifferent to the newborn and relatives.
Over time, the attitude towards the child does not change, the mother may not approach him at all or not leave him for a minute. Fearing sabotage from others, she does not let anyone near the baby. If it is noticed that the mother behaves inappropriately with the child, they need to be separated - the little one should be isolated, the woman should be sent for treatment. You may need to hire a nanny or use the help of grandmothers.
A cause for concern can be considered a situation when a mother, despite the fatigue that has accumulated over the whole day related to caring for a child, cannot fall asleep. The patient may think that the baby is unwell, in connection with which she begins to give him medicines, and quite strong ones.
Consequences of psychosis
Without the help of specialists, postpartum psychosis is extremely rare. The condition of a woman can worsen every day. It is often difficult for relatives to convince a newly-made mother of the need for treatment. The disorder, in the first place, makes it impossible to fully care for the child. Children whose mothers suffered from this disease often lag behind in physical and mental development.
The most dangerous consequences of postpartum psychosis are a direct threat to the life of the mother and child, moreover, it comes from the woman herself. She might try to commit suicide, try to hurt andnewborn. There are cases when this was possible, the mother was thrown out the window with the baby, while being in a completely inadequate state.
How to treat?
Based on the listed symptoms, the doctor conducts an additional examination to confirm or refute the diagnosis. You will need to take a blood and urine test to find out the objective cause of the disorder, a neurological examination, and computed tomography are prescribed. With each day of delay in treatment, its effectiveness decreases, which poses a threat to mother and baby. Therefore, the prevention of psychosis should be started before childbirth, it is important to surround the pregnant woman with care and attention.
General recommendations
Treatment of postpartum psychosis in most cases ends in recovery. To do this, you need to seek help in a timely manner, comply with all the terms and doses of prescribed medications. Do not stop treatment, even if the condition improves.
Important to know! A woman is in a hospital or at home, relatives need to provide her with proper support. This contributes to a faster and easier recovery.
If the clinic has the necessary conditions, the child can be admitted to the hospital with the mother, but usually the patient is sent for treatment alone. Therapy is prescribed with the use of medications, strong antipsychotics, so breastfeeding is prohibited. After 2 weeks, the patient is recovering and can be discharged home. A full therapeutic course lasts from six months to a year.
Eliminating signs of psychosis
Firststage - taking antipsychotics and mood stabilizers to relieve the symptoms of postpartum psychosis in a woman. An additional examination is prescribed to identify the inflammatory process, if a pathology is detected, measures are taken to eliminate its symptoms.
At a mild stage of the disease, treatment can be carried out at home under the supervision of relatives. Taking medication means transferring the child to artificial feeding.
The second stage is the appointment of insulin therapy, this measure is provided for in severe cases of the disease.
The scheme of further treatment depends on the condition of the patient and consists of the following manipulations:
- transfusions of small amounts of blood;
- prescribing sleeping pills;
- administration of adrenocorticotropic hormone;
- electroconvulsive therapy.
Drugs are usually prescribed in the form of tablets, less often intramuscular and intravenous injections are used. The duration of the course is affected by the severity of the nervous breakdown.
It is no less difficult for a woman to go through the recovery period, she feels guilty before the child, she has to accept that she had to go through such a difficult and dangerous period.
Preventive measures
Don't ignore consultations with a psychiatrist at the planning stage of pregnancy. In the prevention of postpartum depression and psychosis, such meetings will not be superfluous, they will strengthen the psycho-emotional state of the woman and prepare her morally for the birthchild. Of course, this does not give an absolute guarantee that the problem will bypass, but the risk of its occurrence will decrease many times over. It is important to try to avoid stressful situations in the last weeks of pregnancy, to be less nervous, to get enough sleep. You should also adhere to the following instructions:
- Follow all the recommendations of the obstetrician-gynecologist.
- Learn relaxation techniques and self-training to get rid of negative emotions.
- Walk as much as possible. This will ensure a he althy sleep, which promotes good rest and restores strength.
During the rehabilitation period, folk remedies help well. Herbal teas based on mint, St. John's wort, motherwort have a calming effect.
What families need to know
Great antidepressants: chocolate, bananas, seeds, walking in the fresh air. The emotional state of a woman after childbirth largely determines her husband's attitude towards her during pregnancy.
It is important that peace and mutual understanding reign in the family, there is a calm atmosphere in the house. The husband should help with household chores so that the wife can afford a good rest.
It's good to talk to friends who have small children so that you can find out about all the exciting moments ahead. The more a woman is informed about the upcoming process, the easier it will be for her to cope with an apathetic mood.
Relatives and close people who are with the patient must comply with a number of measurescaution when dealing with her:
- Do not argue with opinions and intrusive statements, this can provoke aggression.
- Do not disregard any hints of suicide.
- Don't support delusional thoughts, you can just listen.
- Don't leave a woman alone.
Everyone hopes for a speedy recovery of the patient. It can be said as a consolation that the pathology is treated relatively quickly, but there are cases of the return of the disease after repeated births. It is required to warn the doctor about the presence of psychosis in the past in order to take timely action.
