12/30/2025
One of the problems with identifying and treating perinatal women in distress is that symptoms are hard to discern. This is true for the women, men, and families who suffer. This is also true for the healthcare providers who treat them.
Symptoms overlap with normal, expected perinatal changes and do not always fit into discrete or identifiable categories. Unlike other medical conditions that might present themselves in a measurable fashion, perinatal distress is often subjective.
Still, every single physician and provider who comes face to face with a pregnant or postpartum woman can and should provide them with accurate information, support and resources.
✅ They should talk about postpartum depression and anxiety. They should say those words.
✅ They should talk to their patient, the way they talk about high blood pressure, or good nutrition, or what to do and what not to do during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
✅ They should encourage her to take care of herself with an action plan, if she does not like the way she is feeling.
✅ They should tell her that symptoms of postpartum depression and anxiety are treatable.
✅ They should tell her that while we expect some level of adjustment distress, she should not have to suffer or wonder what is wrong.
✅ Because symptoms of depression and anxiety quickly morph into a distorted core belief that “something is terribly wrong with ME” and then, it is no longer just about symptoms, it’s about who she is. This irrational belief that she is impaired, or flawed, or somehow unfit to be her baby’s mother, is part of what drives the shame and potential for suicidal thoughts.
