Your emotional wellbeing and mental health

Your Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health

After your baby is born, you might feel a lot of different emotions. It’s important to take care of yourself so if things feel too hard or you’re really tired, it’s okay to ask for help from friends or family.

Bonding:

After your baby is born, getting close and forming a special connection is important. This is called bonding. Here are some simple ways to bond with your baby:

Hold your baby close
Look in their eyes
Talk and sing to them
Feed them with love
Play games
Just be there
Make nappy change fun

Remember, it’s okay to ask for help if you need a break. Other people can also help bond with your baby. It’s good for your baby to get to know other loving people too.

Time for You:

After having a baby, you’re really busy taking care of them. But don’t forget, you need care too! Try these self help tips:

Sleep when your baby sleeps to feel less tired.
Hug and hold your baby a lot. It makes both of you feel calm and happy.
Let friends and family help with the baby. It’s good to take a little break.
Eat good food and drink lots of water.
Going outside or doing a little exercise can make you feel better.
Join baby groups to meet parents.

Remember, taking time for you makes you a happier, better parent.

Emotional Changes and your Mental Health:

After having a baby, it’s normal to feel a mix of emotions. You might be happy one minute and sad the next, or even feel overwhelmed. Being a new parent is tiring, so try to rest when you can. Feeling really sad or worried a few days after birth is often called “baby blues” and usually gets better on its own.

But if those feelings last more than two weeks, it’s a good idea to talk to your GP doctor to get help.

Mental Health issues can happen at any time during your pregnancy or after your baby is born and it’s not your fault. It’s important to know that help is available.

Baby Blues

After you have a baby, you might feel a lot of different emotions. This is often called ‘baby blues.’ It usually starts a week after your baby is born and goes away in about 10-14 days. You might feel like crying for no reason, get upset easily, or feel sad or worried. This happens because your body is changing after having your baby. You don’t need medicine for this, but talking to someone can make you feel better.
Postnatal Depression

Feeling down or upset for up to two weeks after having a baby is common and is called ‘baby blues.’ But if you still feel this way after two weeks, it could be postnatal depression.

Postnatal depression is a common problem that happens after pregnancy. It is when you feel very sad, hopeless, guilty, or like everything is your fault. This happens for weeks or months after you have your baby.

Postnatal depression can be mild or severe. You might find it hard to take care of yourself or your baby when they have severe depression.

Postnatal depression is not the same as ‘baby blues’ – it is a mental health condition that needs treatment, so it’s important to ask for help. With the right help and care most people recover fully from postnatal depression.

Getting Help:

It can be difficult to talk about how you are feeling and ask for help but asking for help doesn’t mean you’re not a good parent. It just means you want to do the best for your child.

Talk to people you trust, like friends or family. Tell your midwife, health visitor, or GP doctor how you feel, they can help you find the best support.

Support Available in Somerset:

Talking Therapies:
This is when you speak about your feelings with a trained therapist. This could be just you and the therapist, in a group, on the phone, with your family, or with your partner. If you live in Somerset and are aged 18 or older , you can access our talking therapies for common mental health problems like anxiety or depression. A GP doctor can refer you, or you can self-refer yourself directly.

Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services:
If you have more difficult and severe mental illness during pregnancy or after birth, there is specialist support service to help. Your healthcare team can let you know if you need this extra support.