Postpartum mood disorders can appear at any time, even during the holidays.
Adjusting to the birth of a baby can be challenging. Adjusting to the birth of a baby during the added stress of the holidays when everything is supposed to feel magical and perfect can be even more difficult.
Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders affect one in five women during pregnancy or the first year after giving birth with symptoms that range from mild to severe.
“What began in 2011 as a support group at Monmouth Medical Center is now a comprehensive outpatient Center for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety – a first in New Jersey,” said Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology Robert Graebe, MD.
“The outpatient program was created to meet a pressing need in our community for services available to treat perinatal mood and anxiety disorder, which is the No. 1 most common complication of childbirth, but is also temporary and treatable. It is a part of our continuum of care for expectant and new moms and babies that rivals any hospital in the nation.”
If you have a loved one who is pregnant or recently had a baby and is experiencing any of the below symptoms for more than two weeks, please help them to seek professional help and let them know that they are not alone:
- Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much
- Anxiety all or most of the time or panic attacks
- Feeling guilty or worthless
- Sadness/crying frequently
- Loss of pleasure/interest in things you used to enjoy
- Excessive irritability and/or racing, scary thoughts
- Fear of being left alone with the baby, or that you are not a good enough mother
The Center for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, located in the Anne Vogel Family Care & Wellness Center at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, is a multidisciplinary mother/baby treatment center that addresses many different topics and helps women to understand that they are not alone, they are not to blame and with help, they can get well.
The program includes free group support as well as evidence-based psychotherapy delivered by a multidisciplinary team of experts from psychiatry, nursing and social work. All of the center’s clinicians are certified by Postpartum Support International.
In addition, it offers a private Facebook community dedicated to this patient population that provides a peer-to-peer support system, as well as therapy for spouses and partners, pre-pregnancy planning for women with a prior history of anxiety or depression as well as referrals to supportive services that work together to create a pregnancy or postpartum plan that works best for the family.
For more information call 862-781-3755 or visit The Center for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders.