She Informs

Tag: postpartum

  • How Becoming a Mom Changes Your Social Circle (And That’s OK)

    How Becoming a Mom Changes Your Social Circle (And That’s OK)

    Remember life before becoming a mom? When making plans meant a quick text and showing up wherever, whenever? When conversations flowed freely without tiny interruptions or the constant mental math of bedtimes and babysitter costs? If you’re nodding along while bouncing a baby or negotiating with a toddler, you’re experiencing one of motherhood’s less talked-about challenges: the friendship shift.

    It starts subtly. Maybe you decline a few happy hours because you’re exhausted, or you leave early from gatherings because your pumping schedules wait for no one. Your childless friends might roll with it at first, but as the pattern continues, something changes. The invitations slow down. Group chats move on without you. It’s not malicious—it’s just the natural drift that happens when life circumstances separate dramatically.

    Advertisements

    The Great Divide

    The reality is stark: becoming a mother creates an invisible line between you and friends who haven’t yet reached motherhood. It’s not about love or loyalty—it’s about living in fundamentally different worlds. While your single or childless friends are navigating career moves, travel plans, and weekend adventures, you’re deep in the trenches of sleep deprivation, diaper changes, and the strange pride that comes from successfully leaving the house with everyone wearing matching shoes.

    This divide can feel isolating, especially when you desperately need connection. You might find yourself explaining why you can’t commit to plans more than a day in advance, or why that “quick coffee” needs to happen between 10 AM and noon when the baby naps. Sometimes it feels easier to stop trying.

    Advertisements

    The New Group

    But here’s what often happens next after becoming a mom: you start finding your people in unexpected places. The mom at story time who also looks like she forgot to brush her teeth. The neighbor who waves sympathetically as you wrestle a screaming toddler into a car seat. The woman in your birthing class who texts you at 3 AM because she knows you’re probably awake too.

    These new friendships form differently than your pre-kid relationships. They’re born from shared survival, mutual understanding, and the beautiful relief of being around someone who doesn’t judge you for having Goldfish crackers permanently embedded in your purse. Conversations might be interrupted by small people demanding snacks, but there’s an acceptance there that didn’t exist before.

    Quality Over Quantity

    The friendship shift isn’t just about losing some relationships and gaining others—it’s about fundamentally changing what you need from friendship. Pre-motherhood, you might have had energy for maintaining dozens of casual friendships. Now, you’re drawn to deeper connections with fewer people who truly understand your current season of life.

    You learn to appreciate the friend who brings coffee when she visits instead of expecting you to host. The one who doesn’t mind if your conversation happens while you’re folding laundry or pushing swings at the playground. The friend who celebrates small victories with you, like everyone napping at the same time or making it through Target without a meltdown (from anyone).

    Advertisements

    Preserving What Matters

    Not all pre-motherhood friendships have to fade. The ones worth keeping are the friends who evolve with you, who ask about your kids but also remember you’re still a whole person with thoughts beyond pediatric schedules. They’re the ones who suggest meeting for lunch instead of late dinners, who understand when you need to reschedule, and who remind you of who you were before you became “mom.”

    These friendships now require more intentional effort. Instead of spontaneous hangouts, you schedule coffee dates like business meetings. You might text more and call less, or have deeper conversations in shorter bursts. It’s different, but it can be just as meaningful.

    Embracing the Evolution

    The shift in friendship can feel like a loss, and in some ways, it is. You’re mourning the ease of your previous social life, the spontaneity, the version of yourself who could be completely present without mental checklists running in the background. That grief is real and valid.

    However, you’re also creating space for relationships that align with your current reality. Friendships built on understanding, flexibility, and shared experience in this wild journey of raising tiny humans. These connections might look different from what you had before, but they’re precisely what you need now.

    The friendship shift isn’t a failure or a settling; you’re evolving. You’re not losing yourself; you’re finding the people who see and celebrate who you’re becoming. And that’s not just OK—it’s exactly as it should be.

    Advertisements
  • Facts About Postpartum Depression in Women

    Facts About Postpartum Depression in Women

    It’s a known fact that one in seven women are affected by Postpartum Depression every day. The most important thing is to not make any assumptions and to seek medication. There is a cure for PPD, but it is also important to talk it out.

    What is Postpartum Depression?

    Postpartum Depression, also known as PPD, is a long-lasting emotional distress, typically after childbirth or during pregnancy. Pregnancy comes with many unpleasant side effects, such as nausea, anxiety, and the most common side effect, cravings. It is statistically a very well-known disorder because one in seven new moms depict signs of PPD.

    Advertisements

    Postpartum affects mostly women who were unprepared for pregnancy, women who did not want the pregnancy, and those who were to some extent hopeless during the birth period. It is one of the many ‘baby blues’ – baby blues being the effects of childbirth. PPD is a real disorder that needs medication and if not treated, can last for years.

    Advertisements

    Postpartum Depression Symptoms

    The most common signs of depression are; anxiety, sadness, isolation, laziness, and a negative attitude toward people. PPD, however, has very unique and severe symptoms. Its major symptoms include:

    postpartum depression

    Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

    • Intense and prolonged crying
    • Hopelessness and a deep lack of motivation
    • Withdrawal from your newborn or thoughts of hurting your baby or spouse
    • Insomnia and laziness at all times (inability to do tasks that were easily done before the pregnancy)
    • Lack of appetite or eating a lot at times
    • Overthinking and absent-mindedness – forgetfulness at times too
    • Hallucinations and loss of confidence
    • Suicidal thoughts or thoughts of hurting yourself
    • Slowed decision-making and loss of concentration
    Advertisements

    What causes Postpartum Depression?

    • Pre-pregnancy anxiety or depression
    • Pregnancy strains due to changes that come with the newborn
    • Increased baby chores like; feeding, cleaning, and putting the child to sleep, especially for first-time moms
    • Any family issues that were experienced during or after the pregnancy, e.g., the death of a family member or someone close to the family, and marital fights
    • Financial constraints on either of the spouses’ sides
    • Giving birth to a disabled baby
    • Family history of anxiety disorder
    • Abandonment by family or partner
    • Complications during pregnancy
    Advertisements

    Prevention and Control of PPD

    There is no known prevention method for PPD. Celibacy and avoiding pregnancy may be the only way of preventing PPD, but this is a very far-fetched way of preventing it. Hence the assumption that there is no known way of preventing PPD disorder. There are, however, numerous ways of controlling PPD, such as:
    Talking it out: A problem half-shared is a problem half-solved. If you believe that you have emotional distress, find people with whom you can share it like friends, family, and professional psychiatrists.
    Exercise: Take time out of your day to exercise. There are numerous ways to exercise, like; yoga, running, hitting the gym, and meditation. Through exercising, your mind is set free from negative thoughts that may have caused PPD, and exercising helps you keep fit too.

    Advertisements


    House Assistance    : House chores can be tiring, especially after childbirth. These tasks can be delegated to professional house managers or family friends; this helps reduce hopelessness or any other negative feelings toward babies.
    Plan your life: Failing to plan is planning to fail. It is advisable to plan how you handle your daily tasks, either by keeping a diary or a notebook. Write down all the things you need to do on each particular day. This reduces the likelihood of absentmindedness and speeds decision-making.
    Support Groups: Finding support groups is an effective way of controlling PPD. Talking to other people who may have gone through PPD disorder helps with your recovery journey. Being around people who are as vulnerable as you also increases your confidence.

    Advertisements

    Unknown Facts About PPD

    It’s two-sided: Men’s mental health has been completely ignored in society. Men are believed to have supernatural emotional strength. This is, however, not the case; even male parents go through PPD. A newborn changes the lives of the female mom and her male counterpart. Men have trouble adjusting, especially financially, and this may trigger emotional distress, suicidal thoughts, and abandoning their wives and babies, among other side effects of PPD.
    It affects the growth of an infant: 0 to 5 years is considered the critical age for a child. Trauma or anything negative that happens to an infant between zero and five years old ends up ruining the rest of his or her life. Infants need to be handled with care, any lack of care from the parent’s side, like PPD disorder, may affect the child later on in his or her life.

    Advertisements

    If symptoms persist, medication is required for all PPD patients. Recovery is possible, but only through the proper channels. According to CNN, the first drugs for PPD were approved for use. Drug makers Sage Therapeutics and Biogen have discovered a drug named Zuranolone under the brand name Zurzuvae, which is expected to launch late in 2023. Therapy was the only known way of controlling PPD, and Zuranolone could go a long way towards fastening the recovery process of PPD. It has been recently approved in the US and is therefore not available in other continents that probably need it most.
    We hope, however, that through patient access programs, access will be available soon in third-world countries. Antidepressant drugs can help too, PPD is a form of depression like any other, and thus patients can be prescribed antidepressants.