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Hi Girls,

I am 23 weeks pregnant and I am really worried I mite have antenatal depression. I have a few things going on in my personal life and work is very tough at the moment. I usually get with things quite well but lately i have found myself crying a lot and feeling as if i cant cope. I dont feel like i am bonding as well as i should be with my baby because of everything else on my mind.

I was just wondering whether anyone else had felt depressed during pregnancy and can offer any advice.

xxx

Fear not you are not alone. I have felt depressed as hell during this pregnancy I am due in 4 weeks time. I have two other children and I had post natal depression after both of them. This time I have been depressed through the pregnancy aswell through personal things and through my health aswell. I have spoken to others to say how I feel and I am getting help through the doctor, midwife etc. So hun my advice would be to not bottle anything up and see your midwife or doctor and tell them how you feel.

Good Luck
Love Lorraine, xx

thanks for your message Lorraine. It made me feel better to know I am not the only one. I felt under lots of pressure to be happy and "blooming", as I thought people would think it was wrong for me to feel upset at such a supposdly happy time. Also my dh doesn't really understand, but then I suppose men never really do!![]

I am going to make an appointment to see my GP this afternoon.

xxx

I have found that some people don't understand either but thats up to them. We don't ask depression to come calling, it just happpens, usually with a reason, such as stress, worry, health problems etc. Don't worry like I say you are not alone.

Hope that all goes well at the doctors. xx

Hi there

Can I jump on the thread too? I've been feeling pretty bad for 2 weeks now. Much more than just tearful, really down. I think I know what is causing it so I'm making changes, but I've decided to go and see my GP in 2 weeks if no better, and will mention it to my midife too. I'm a bit scared to go now, as I don't want to be signed off from work. I know I'm being very hard on myself, but I really want to be strong and not give in to this yet. It's tough though, as all I really want to do is curl up and cry.

Like you say Jaxson, it's good to know I'm not alone.

How did you get on with your GP, and Lorraine, can I ask you what help your Dr and midwife are giving you?

Rachel 29+2

Hi Rachael

Well The help I am getting is basically that I have there support. I can go and see them if I feel that I am not coping with things and they can put me onto some tablets to help. However I don't want them so I am trying to get on with things. But I have good friends that also are very supportive, this helps lots. It is common to get depressed in pregnancy and it does not make you a bad person at all. Try to not put yourself under pressure. There are people who can help you I promise.

I have found that things seem to pick up when the sun is shining and the weather is better so you might found this aswell.

XXX

Rachel - I'm glad to hear that you are seeing your GP soon hun.

As you know I have felt down alot lately but I don't think it is just because of the work stress I think it is more than that and worry that I am going to have baby and be a monster at the end of it if you know what I mean?

Does that sounds silly?

I will definately seek advice next time I go to the doctors.

Jaxson - I know what you mean by all you want to do is curl up and cry and I don't know why I want to do that but I do.

I hope you got on alright at the doctors hun.

Love Jen x [:X]

Thanks Lorraine

You are right, I think a good dose of sunshine will help us all. I think I suffer from winter blues anyway, infact I think most people do if they're honest. I have so much to be happy about really, and that is frustrating me the most.

Thanks for your message, it's nice to know there is support here also. None of my close friends have been pregnant, although some have had depression in the past. It's good to talk.

Rachel xxx

Just found this on the web

The good news is that having antenatal depression doesn't mean that you're necessarily in line for postnatal depression too. The Bristol study found the numbers affected fell considerably after birth, despite the severity of problems during pregnancy, and no clear association between the two has been identified.

Fingers crossed for us all

xxx

Well done Rachel for finding that.

That is good news.

Definately agree with your winter blues, I'm sure we will be feeling alot chirpier when spring comes []

Love Jen x

I've had post natal depression in the past and it was something that I wasn't expecting. The first time it happened my son was 10 months old. I felt embarrassed and a failure and my husband was devastated (wrongly so)that he had made me like this and let me down. My family were unsympathetic as they just thought I had a lovely husband and two gorgeous children and what did I have to be depressed about but finally my friends had noticed a difference and made me go to the doctor. I couldn't tell him why I felt depressed, I didn't know and he told me it was not my fault, its caused by a hormonal inbalance in the brain and needed to be treated. I started on a course of anti depressants and they really worked for me. I took them for about 8 months and then came off them. After my third child, my family were more careful about noticing the signs and sure enough, when she was 4 months old, I began to feel down again but with the support of my family I went back to the doctor and did the same again without feeling any guilt because I knew more about it and knew it was not my fault and taking the tablets would make me better and be better for my family. I would imagine you can get the same hormonal inmbalance even when you are pregnant so please go see your midwife or doctor and tell them. When you have been treated, you will wonder why you ever felt this bad. Incidently my mum told me afterwards that she had felt the same with me and my brother but you didn't go to the doctor back then, you just got on with it. Maybe its hereditary, if you can ask your mum, ask her and see if she felt the same. I am due in 7 weeks and am very happy but I know that if I end up with post natal depression again, I will go to the doctors again, take the medication and enjoy my baby instead of dark despair. Keep your chin up, there are a lot of us out there. We just don't talk about it even though we should.

Trad

Hi all

I know hpw you all feel as I have felt depressed throughout this pregnancy and the most difficult thing is that other people find it difficult to understand.

I did talk to my midwife and she put me intouch with a counsellor at the hospital who is being a great help. Don't suffer in silence you are not alone and there is help out there.

Good luck to you all.

Jack

Trad - It is a relief to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we are not the only ones that are depressed for no reason.

Unfortunately, my DH disagrees with anti depressants and says that they change me when I am on them and last time binned them!

For me it will have to be, put up with it and hopefully it will go away.

Love Jen x

Jen, is it worth talking to your DH again, maybe a different brand would not 'change you' so much from the Jen he knows and loves? I didn't see your message from this morning, I think we both posted at the same time.

I'm also not convinced that mine is to do with my travelling. It's my own excuse which I hope will help me get over as I can control it. What you said about worrying about being a monster is not silly at all. We don't know how we will be as 'new mums', we've never done this before. I worry that I wont be able to cope too. I bet we will be great Mums and will look back at this and wonder what it was all about!

I'm really glad that this thread has been started, You do feel incredibly guilty about feeling depressed, and you can't help it. It's really comforting to know you are not alone.


Rachel xxx

Hello

I'm 12 weeks pregnanat with my 3rd and the last few weeks I have felt so low.....I know alot of it was due to personal things going on and those horrible pregnanacy hormones that can make you paranoid and miserable.
I just felt so miserable a few weeks ago that I wondered how I would get through this pregnancy and questioned why I'm doing it again.

Like Musswells I had postnatal depression after my other 2 children.

Feel a bit better now and more positive but the slightest thing seems to trigger it off again.

Hope you start to feel better soon.

Antenatal is recognised as a form of depression and in some cases they can put you on anti depressants if things get really bad.

xxxxxxxxxxx