Maternity blues: Getting ahead of the postpartum ‘blues’

by time news

Many are the demands and expectations that surround motherhood, own and others, but when the facts and experiences do not come close to those expectations, discouragement and frustration usually appear. The initiative arose from the nursing group, says Juan Ángel Moreno, director of Nursing at the Sanitas La Zarzuela University Hospital and leader of the project. «The manifestation of sadness, overwhelm and impotence during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium manifested verbally or with clinical signs and symptoms, such as crying, loss of appetite, lack of illusion, are collected in the clinical history, and are alarm signals that are detected both in consultations and in hospitalization, and that nursing detects and must provide comprehensive support”. Flor de Bernardo, a psychologist from the same center explains it: «We accompany the family, from the beginning of life, placing the woman as the center and axis of the intervention. We provide guidance and emotional support at each stage, to help them navigate this entire period in the best way, and we carry out an early identification of symptoms that may be warning signs”. When talking about depression associated with pregnancy, one thinks above all of what happens after childbirth, but the follow-up includes from the beginning of the pregnancy and is not necessarily linked to physical problems, explains Moreno. To verify that the alarm signals are real, a questionnaire is completed to determine the need for a psychology consultation. Related News ABC HEALTH AWARDS standard No Mundo Sano: The struggle to care for the health of 1,600 million people Sonia Gutiérrez Mundo Sano makes visible and supports neglected diseases such as Chagas disease, Zika or dengue De Bernardo explains that “we have resources, techniques and tests that help us make a differential diagnosis and establish levels of severity. But it is empathic listening, contact with the patient, and clinical experience that help us interpret the data obtained and make the assessment.” The program is comprehensive so it also includes the couple. The key to success is having an interdisciplinary team that is in constant communication Neither normal nor temporary. After suspicions, «the immediate response is attention to rule out any pathology or process that justifies this state of dysphoria. Once this possibility has been ruled out, emotional support is offered, and if accepted, the call to psychology is activated. Once the follow-up service is offered, some of the families reject it as they think it may be a normal and temporary symptom, “although most accept it”. In no case should these alterations be underestimated or think that they will go away with time, since they can have important consequences and sequelae, because there is a risk of becoming chronic. The key to success is having an interdisciplinary team that is in constant communication, adds De Bernardo.

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