1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers suffer perinatal depression and anxiety (PNDA). It is a treatable mental health condition that affects an expectant or new parent for two weeks or more significantly impacting their daily functioning.
Symptoms of PDNA often start during pregnancy and become more apparent after birth. It’s different for everyone but the onset can be gradual or more sudden. It’s not the same as the ‘baby blues’, which can happen a couple of days after giving birth and affects around 80 per cent of new mums.
Feeling overwhelmed, teary and anxious is common with the baby blues and can be influenced by the birth experience, fluctuating hormone levels or lack of sleep.
At first Zoe Mawkes thought she might just be suffering from an extended baby blues after her son Saxon was born, but it wasn’t the case.
“Apart from the sleep deprivation, things were going smoothly. But I’ll never forget the first time I really cried, and I didn’t know why. We were having family dinner, and suddenly the tears just started falling. I wasn’t sad, I wasn’t scared, I just… broke open.
“Three months postpartum the crying hadn’t stopped. In fact, it had gotten heavier. I was snappy and tired and detached from the things I used to love. I couldn’t bear to be away from Saxon – even letting Blake, my fiancé, hold him sometimes gave me anxiety.
“Lying on the couch with him on my chest was the only place I felt safe.
“I told myself ‘this is just the baby blues, it’ll pass’. But it didn’t and then one day Blake looked me in the eyes and gently said, “Zo I’m getting worried. You’re not yourself, please talk to your mum and please go and get help”.
“That’s what finally broke through the fog.”
Zoe went to her GP and was referred to a psychologist and encouraged to try antidepressants. Slowly, Zoe worked through PDNA and came out the other side.
When you’re going through PDNA it is very common to feel overwhelmed, exhausted and a range of other emotions. It is one of the biggest changes in your life and one that we can be totally unprepared for.
There is often a stigma surrounding mental health, so making the first approach to a professional is not always easy, but research has consistently shown that parents who receive timely professional support have the best chances of recovering from PDNA.
The Gidget Foundation has Gidget Houses across NSW and Queensland so mums and dads who are suffering PDNA have somewhere to go and someone to talk to.
They suggest that the very first step in seeking help is talking to other parents who are at a similar life stage. It can be helpful to feel heard, understood and less isolated. If support from family and friends isn’t enough, there are many helpful sources of peer support.
“Looking after your mental health doesn’t make you less of a parent — it makes you a better one,” said Zoe.
“Asking for help isn’t weakness. It’s strength.”
The Gidget House provides free individual psychological counselling services that are covered by Medicare bulk billing. A referral and a mental health care plan from a GP are required in order to access that funding.
Gidget Board member Jarrod Bowditch has been with the Gidget Foundation from the start and said it’s amazing how many parents come and use the Gidget House once they see it.
“People don’t know who or what we are but as soon as we build it we have so many people come through the doors.
“We have just delivered over 100,000 free consults to mums and dads and families and helped over 11,500 families over the last 24 years.”
The Gidget Foundation also provides telehealth support, a range of books including their well known Bunny Books written for children with psychological strategies to help parents; they also hold group events, workplace programs and more.
Fundraising supports much of the work the Gidget Foundation does through those programs helping expectant and new parents.
Zoe has given back to the Gidget Foundation, recently raising over $1,000 through a fundraiser on Mother’s Day, and ran her first marathon on the Gold Coast last year raising awareness for PDNA. It was there that she had mums run up to her and thank her for sharing her story because it pushed them to seek the help they needed.
“I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself.”
Zoe is also the Gidget Angel for the 24th Gidget House that opened in the Hunter Valley last month.
| If your GP has sent a referral directly through to Gidget House, please contact on 1300 851 758 or via email: contact@gidgethouse.org.au so you can find out the next steps. Gidget House does not provide crisis support. If you are in need of urgent help, please call your local hospital or Lifeline on 13 11 14. For more information on your nearest Gidget House or on the other programs head to: https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ |
