When giving life starts to take the life out of you: women's experiences of depression after childbirth.
OBJECTIVE
To capture the missing voices of mothers who are suffering postnatal depression.


METHODS
Qualitative methodology using in-depth interviews.


METHODS
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.


METHODS
10 women who had been clinically diagnosed and admitted to a large hospital mother and baby unit in Australia.


RESULTS
Stigma is frequently attached to women who are unhappy after the birth of their child, because they are not coping with the demands of motherhood or do not instantly bond with, and love, their baby. As a result, postnatal depression can be a terrifying and isolating experience for women. It is also a complex illness with varying degrees, reasons for onset and medical treatments.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, we have captured the emotions and feelings of women first hand, allowing us and health-care practitioners who are treating women to truly understand this debilitating illness. It is hoped that, in making the wider community aware of depression after childbirth, fewer women will suffer in silence.
Buultjens
Melissa
M
School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia, 3086.
Liamputtong
Pranee
P
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D033262:Narration; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009769:Object Attachment; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014739:Victoria