EDUCATION | The Village ICT

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Women and families face a variety of challenges during childbearing years. Sometimes these challenges may include emotional pain and suffering. Please visits the following links for more information about specific mental health symptoms that may effect you or someone you love.

Depression

Depression during and after pregnancy occur more often than most people realize. Depression during pregnancy is also called antepartum or prenatal depression, and depression after pregnancy is called postpartum depression.

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Anxiety

Approximately 6% of pregnant women and 10% of postpartum women develop anxiety. Sometimes they experience anxiety alone, and sometimes they experience it in addition to depression.

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Approximately 9% of women experience postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth. Most often, this illness is caused by a real or perceived trauma during delivery or postpartum.

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Bipolar Mood Disorder

There are two phases of a bipolar mood disorder: the lows and the highs. The low time is clinically called depression, and the high is called mania or hypomania. Many women are diagnosed for the first time with bipolar depression or mania during pregnancy or postpartum. In Bipolar 2, the manic episode is less apparent; the highs and lows are not as extreme, and sometimes it is more apparent to friends and families than to the individual going through the phases.

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Postpartum Psychosis

Postpartum Psychosis is a rare illness, compared to the rates of postpartum depression or anxiety. It occurs in approximately 1 to 2 out of every 1,000 deliveries, or approximately .1 -.2% of births. The onset is usually sudden, most often within the first 2 weeks postpartum.

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Infertility

When coping with infertility, feelings of sadness, loss and grief are common and expected. It is normal, and even healthy, to feel sad or even angry once in awhile. But sometimes pain and heartache are persistent and don’t go away with time? Infertility can be heartbreaking. Going through testing and treatment can be tiring and emotionally exhausting. But if your sad feelings are affecting your life more than you would like, you can get help.

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Pregnancy Loss and Infant Loss

Depression after pregnancy loss or infant loss is not only understandable, it is also treatable. Unfortunately, you may feel that you are left to suffer alone. Although we expect there to be some stage of “normal grief”, most friends and family may be eager for you to quickly return to your “normal” state, thereby dismissing the depth of your pain. This can leave you feeling misunderstood and drive you further into isolation. This set of circumstances can create the opportunity for depression to emerge. If you are experiencing several of these symptoms and they do not seem to go away with time, please consult a professional.

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Pregnancy and Birth Inequities

The numbers speak for themselves

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Postpartum

Depression Self Test

If you believe that you or a loved one may be experiencing symptoms of postpartum depression you may find the following screening assessment helpful.

Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Screening

*This is not a diagnostic assessment, but it may be helpful when identifying symptoms that will be helpful when talking with your doctor.

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