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Giving birth can be the most joyous time of your life, but the days following the birth
may find you on an emotional rollercoaster. Feelings of anxiety, sadness, tearfulness,
irritability, fatigue or changes in appetite may grip you. You’ve got the baby
blues—a common reaction to giving birth. In fact, up to 80 percent of all new
mothers will experience this. All of these feelings and changes are
normal.
When do the baby blues start?
The baby blues usually occur in the first few days after delivery. This is the
most common and least severe of post partum response—a letdown following
the highly emotional experience of birth. Women who experience the blues can
feel elated and euphoric one moment, and feel despondent and anxious the next.
Feeling out-of-control can escalate feelings of anxiety and fear.
What causes baby blues?
The cause of the baby blues is not fully understood. These feelings can be attributed,
in part, to the rapid changes in your body after giving birth. The hormone levels change
drastically from pregnancy to post-delivery. The stress response of labor and delivery is
enormous. A woman experiences drastic changes in body chemistry after giving
birth. The fatigue of caring for your newborn and the overwhelming experience
of being a new mother are contributors, as well. There is increased stress with
the sudden change in role and responsibility. No matter how prepared you think
you are to care for the baby, the enormity of the task does not set in until
the first few days at home. Postpartum blues usually subside after two or three
weeks, often leaving as suddenly as they came on.
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