When Lauren Fisher was pregnant, she felt like she was “talked about” instead of being talked to.
She and her partner Alex went through IVF to have their child, and Ms. Fisher had a “difficult pregnancy and difficult delivery” and “negative experiences” in the hospital system.
“When my baby was very young, she couldn’t sleep, and I desperately looked for help and was told that she wasn’t sleeping because of what she was doing, so it was my fault,” she says.
“And I internalized a lot of that,” she says.
The challenges of new parenthood, along with changes in hormones and other pressures, “hit like a ton of bricks” around six months postnatally after having both of their children, especially the second time around, says Ms Fisher. .
It wasn’t that she didn’t adore her children, or that she didn’t love being a mother, or that she didn’t know it could be difficult, says Ms. Fisher.
She didn’t want to hurt herself or her son, but she knew she needed help, so after speaking with her GP and with the support of her partner, she went to Belmont Private Hospital’s Brisbane Center for Postnatal Disorders for three weeks. .
Now, Ms. Fisher wants to empower other new parents to seek help.
“When you feel like this, it’s very easy to feel like something is wrong with you, and you feel like that makes you feel really alone, and you’re just not alone,” she says.
“It’s actually very, very brave to say I’m not okay and I need some support.
Growing demand for perinatal support
Ms Fisher is not alone: one in five new mums and one in 10 new dads are affected by perinatal depression and anxiety, affecting some 100,000 Australian families annually.
Leading perinatal mental health organisation, Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA), says demand continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels despite expectations it would decline after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
More than 30,000 Australians completed PANDA’s online mental health checklist in the last 12 months, up slightly from the previous year.
Of the new mothers who responded to the checklist, four out of five said they felt disconnected from their friends and family, while 40 percent felt disconnected from their baby.
For new parents, 80 percent of those surveyed said they felt disconnected from their friends and family, and nearly half felt disconnected from their baby.
PANDA Executive Director Julie Borninkhof says parents are experiencing a range of challenges, including cost of living and global events, at a time when they are vulnerable and often “trying to manage anxiety, depression or other perinatal mental health problems.
“Of the people who called the PANDA helpline, 63 per cent had not even talked to their partner about how they were feeling, while 83 per cent had not consulted a doctor or healthcare professional,” he says. .
‘There’s a really big gap’ says counselor
Brisbane clinical social worker at Making Mamma Village, Karen O’Mara, says there is a gap in services provided to couples during pregnancy and after the baby is born.
“There’s a really big gap in helping moms understand what they’ll need emotionally and psychologically when they come home from having a baby,” she says.
“The biggest challenge I find working with families is that we no longer have our village of support that we used to have decades ago.”
Ms. O’Mara also says that parents who have had miscarriages, a stillborn child, or lost their baby in the neonatal intensive care unit need more support when they leave the hospital system, so she recommends they seek professional support.
“What often happens is also that they may have unresolved grief and loss over the loss, and then they get pregnant again and have significant anxiety about the subsequent pregnancy,” she says.
A Brisbane mother hopes her experience will help others
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brisbane mother Shannon Batson was diagnosed with postpartum depression when her second child was 12 weeks old, and now believes she had it after the birth of her first child.
“I’ve had mental health issues my entire adult life, so it was hard for me to understand why I was being diagnosed with a perinatal disorder when it was something I felt like I’d always had on and off,” she says.
“One of the challenges I faced in coming to terms with my diagnosis was the preconception that postpartum depression meant you didn’t love your baby because I loved my baby and felt connected to her from the beginning,” she said.
“I thought everyone felt that way, and everyone had those struggles.”
So she sought help and went to Belmont Private Hospital, during which time she attended group therapy and therapy with a psychiatrist, among other parenting courses.
After leaving the hospital, he has continued with group therapy and is doing “very well.”
“It’s not something you would wish on anyone…but if I can help, particularly another mom or just anyone who’s struggling, my experience is worth it,” she says.
“Seeking professional help is vital, and I know it looks different for everyone.”
With the launch of Perinatal Mental Health Week this week, more than 45 Australian perinatal organizations have come together to launch a federally supported online tool, the Perinatal Mental Health Support Finder, to provide better access to support for.
Plan to help new parents
A Queensland Health spokesperson says the mental health and well-being of new and expecting parents and their babies is a priority.
Last month, the state government launched “a landmark five-year plan” for state-funded mental health, alcohol and other drug services called Better Care Together.
As part of the plan, Queensland Health has committed to investing in initiatives such as increasing the number of maternity and infant beds for specialist inpatient treatment across the state for serious perinatal mental health disorders.
The plan also includes investment in more perinatal mental health physicians, additional consulting services, and increased regional and remote access to its e-Perinatal and Infant Mental Health telepsychiatry service.
.
