perenatal mental health- does it stigmatise you?

[lelarose]

I have been referred to a perenatal mental health service because I am pregnant for the first time and pretty anxious (I don't sleep). I want to accept help but am bit worried it will stigmatise me and could lead to people doubting my ability to look after my child/ checking up on me in the future.

I am maybe just being paranoid, but does anyone have any experience of this and how helpful was it?

Many thanks

i was referred to a psych due to OCD/depression when I was PG (no specific perinatal service here). I never found there was any stigma - I did end up with more visits from the HV (supposedly to support me, but she was a judgmental cow so no help), but that was all. To be frank, if you turned down the referral people would be more likely to be doubtful of you than if you accepted the help.

since GP was crap, the referral to psych was virtually life saving, as GP refused to prescribe the ADs I badly needed.

I was on ADs from 12 weeks pregnant with DD due to depression. I never felt any stigma in any way - not sure the health visitor knew about it even. And definitekt no suggestion ever my children shoukd be taken away ( I also have a DS older than DD).

I saw my gp who immediately referred me to a psychaiatrist and I was presrcibed the ADs. They quite possibly saved both my life and DD's life to be honest.

Thanks for that. I'm stuck in a huge dilemma because the not sleeping is killing me but I'm way too scared to take any medication (was on ADs for years before stopping them as soon as found out i was pregnant 6 weeks ago), it's cracking me up.

hmm how pregnant are you now - did you stop the ADs ver ysuddenly? If so that may account for some of how you are feeling combined with the 'normal' anxieties and emotions associated with being pregnant for the first time.

It is of course best if you can do without ADs but if you need them it is likely to be better for you and baby if you take them. Many of them are quite safe in pregnancy.

10 weeks now- stopped them very suddenly. Can't sleep now, then got heavily pregnant and new born baby stages to go through, feel like am doomed to years without sleep an its wrecking the whole experience for me.

So you stopped suddenly four weeks ago after years on them and you are in what I found the hardest part of pregnancy! Poor thing no wonder you are feeling awful

You will hopefully get good medical advice that may involve getting back on them for a bit, but just want to say I did not find the newborn time that bad (despite three weeks special care!) as my ds would go for 3-4 hours between breastfeeds at night and I got enough sleep between feeds. So don't panic about being heavily pregnant or havign a newborn, try to deal with today.

I've been referred to perinatal mental health for my last two pregnancies after severe PND with DS1. I take fluoxetine and have done in both my pregnancies since DS1. Sadly I also got PND with DS2 and now DD1 is around the 11 week mark I can feel the tell tale signs despite the ADs.

All I can say that the perinatal consultants were great for both pregnancies and my postnatal support with DS2 was really excellent. In preparation for the almost inevitable PND with DD1 they upped the ADs immediately after the birth and I didn't breastfeed (BF'ed both DSs) so I could take the ADs without guilt.

My GP and the HV have been really supportive. I was very reluctant to accept help in the past due to worries about them taking the kids away, etc but having been "through the system" with DS2 I am taking all the help I can get with DD1.

So please don't worry about the perinatal referral. If I'm honest when pg with DD1 I thought there was no need to refer me but several months on I am glad they did as it makes it a lot easier to ask for help.

Happy to share more details to reassure you if you CAT me.

Thanks so much ladies. I'm sitting here half dead after another night where I woke up continually. I've never been a good sleeper since I was a child but even at that I never knew tiredness like this before- i know understand the term "bone weary".

I have no choice but to keep going to work for various reasons, and in a way its good as I'm on my own all the time and would prob just drive myself even more nuts if i didn't have the distraction and the doctor told me to physically exhaust myself- yeah thanks for that, I think pregnancy is already taking care of that haha.

I'm so frustrated because what worked for me before as well as the tablets was exercise, but I could no more go to the gym or even swim right now that climb Mount Everest, although I'm sure it would really help.

Jasmeeeen, how do I CAT you?

Hi lelarose, I am really feeling for you, I remember how exhausting insomnia is and I remember how exhausting early pregnancy was and I just cant imagine how tired you must be with both of them together.

Stigma-wise let me tell you of my experiences. I was depressed and on citalopram before my pregnancy. I was unwell during my pregnancy an tried to kill myself. Shortly after dd was born a neighbour reported me to Social Services (for no good reason). I was admitted for a month when dd was 11 months. And now I have had to call three times to get dds 2 year old check appointment!

I could not have got through all this without my MH team, especially my wonderful CPN, and my drugs. I have a special interest in ADs used perinatally, and I believe that your health should weigh hevily in the decision of wether to take medication during pregnancy. If only because depression/anxiety is bad for your baby too.

There is a lot of confusion due to no ADs being licensed for used during pregnancy. This does not mean that they ARE a big risk, but that it is hard to do proper double blind trials on pregnant women. Most of the SSRIs are OK during pregnancy ( I was on a whopping 60 mg of citalopram) What were you taking before?

Hi thingmajig, thanks for sharing your experiences. I was on mitrazapine for the last 5 years (various other stuff before that) and it did work to help me sleep. I stopped as soon as found out was pg at 4 weeks, but within a week had to crawl round to the drs as I pretty much had NO sleep, and she gave me zopiclone for a week. That worked brilliantly but I still feel hellishly guilty about taking it even tho she promised it wouldn't affect the baby if I only took it for that week.

Please don't get me wrong, I don't judge anyone for taking ADs in pregnancy, it's just somethng I have a huge fear of doing, because I'd always worry about the baby even if I was told not to. My partner would never understand- he knows I'm not a good sleeper but he has no concept of the exhaustion of early pregnancy. He is away working most of the time, and when he is here he tells me I sleep more than I think I do, ie he might have woken during the night and seen me asleep. What can I say, I accepted long ago there's just no point trying to explain insomnia to anyone who's never suffered it. It's like depression, people think the odd bad day or low mood means they know how you feel and can't understand why you're making such a fuss. So I don't bother trying to explain it anymore.

Well I made the perenantal mental health appointment yesterday. But it's not for over 7 weeks and I'm on my last legs already.

The crazy thing is I've also just taken on more work because I'm so worried about having no money when the baby is born- I have 2 part time jobs and I dont think i'll be able to do one by the third trimester as its pretty physical- so that'll be half my income gone. So I'm trying to do as much as I possibly can while I can, even though it's wearing me out.

Really sorry to moan on and on like this just feeling really trapped and alone. Trying my hardest to do the best for my child, and if I could only sleep at night it would all be possible so I'm really frustrated with myself.

On a less selfish note thingmajig, you're experience whilst pregnant sounds horrendous and must have taken huge strength to get through. I can actually imagine feeling that low. I'm so glad you got good support. Did they help you in other ways aside from the drugs?