An excerpt from Bay Area pediatric sleep and parent coach Dr. Angelique Millette's monthly newsletter......

Dear Parents,

May is Postpartum Mood Disorders Month. It seems only fitting to write about postpartum depression and anxiety as they are so often linked to sleep deprivation in parents of babies and young children.

If mothers or fathers are experiencing any of the above symptoms, they are encouraged to seek professional help.

If you are concerned about your moods or you are concerned about someone close to you, your spouse, partner, or close friend, encourage them to answer the following questions...

Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders Overview

• Are you feeling sad or depressed?

• Do you feel more irritable or angry with those around you?

• Are you having difficulty bonding with your baby?

• Do you feel anxious or panicky?

• Are you having problems with eating or sleeping?

• Are you having upsetting thoughts that you can’t get out of your mind?

• Do you feel as if you are "out of control" or "going crazy"?

• Do you feel like you never should have become a mother?

• Are you worried that you might hurt your baby or yourself?

Parents are encouraged to seek professional treatment for postpartum (or pregnancy) mood disorders. Research shows that when mood disorders are left untreated, there is a negative impact on the relationship between mother and child. Mothers who may have experienced anxiety or depression, combined with insomnia during pregnancy, may have babies who have more difficulty sleeping in the first few months postpartum. Mothers are encouraged to speak to their care provider during pregnancy if they are experiencing feelings of depression or anxiety.

When babies aren’t sleeping, parents aren’t sleeping either, and the sleep loss can also lead to postpartum depression or anxiety. Very often, simply by making sleep changes and helping baby to sleep longer stretches at night, parents begin to sleep better too, and fill up their “sleep bank.” This can lead to an improvement in depression or anxiety symptoms.

Families are encouraged to start with sleep changes at night, as recovering night sleep loss can make a big difference in parents’ energy level(s) during the day. If your baby is having a difficult time sleeping at night, or going through a growth or developmental phase, try your best to take a nap. Even a short 30-minute nap can help to fill up your sleep bank. Or, try to go to bed when your baby goes to bed, at 8pm, so you can get a stretch of sleep before your baby’s first feed of the night. You can also enlist your spouse or partner’s help at night and use a “divide and conquer” approach to split up the night feeds so each of you gets a 4 to 5 hour stretch of sleep, including two of the restorative REM sleep cycles.

There are many treatments for postpartum (or pregnancy) mood disorders and mothers and fathers are encouraged to speak to their care provider about the best course of treatment. PSI also has a HelpLine, 800.944.4773 (4PPD) where you can get basic information, support and resources, in English and Spanish. Confidential messages can be left, and a volunteer will call you back. There are excellent practitioners who provide support groups and individual counseling/therapy. Please click on this link to find additional resources including resources for mothers, fathers, partners and families, military families, LGBQT, Spanish speaking families, adoptive and birth mothers, loss and grief, and incarcerated women.