Sharon, be gentle on yourself. I had PND after my first child. I researched the pants off it, as you can imagine. They can't find anything wrong with the brain chemistry of a woman with PND, and many self-respecting psychologists therefore don't agree medication is appropriate... since medication alters brain chemistry.

Not that you have it, but I'm sure it's gone through your mind so I wanted to mention that.

They can only guess the causes, but a little logic can be very telling. Apply some logic to this: When women in certain other cultures that never suffer PND move to America or another industrialised society, their incidence of PND skyrockets. When we study their life in their native country, we find one outstanding difference - support. A female community. They all live daily life in the emotional embrace of other women also raising children. It is very nourishing.

It can be hormonal but mostly, it is emotional. We have very good reason to feel down when we have children under the circumstances we have them today. For all our progress, we've isolated ourselves. "Clinical Depression" is feeling down for no reason. However, we ALL have reason, as our biology is fighting our reality. So it isn't depression, it is a natural reaction to a situation beyond our control.

We often can't replicate the community factor, but we DO need to acknowledge our need for women at this time in our lives, our need for support and community, so we don't feel we are doing it all alone. It is hard to give up our lives and completely dedicate it to other people, and this can all hit us with a first child or the tenth, there aren't rules. Aside from joining a commune is there anything you can do in your life to remedy this? Even if it doesn't feel like it, it just feels like "emptiness" or what is often described as a doomy black pit in the soul, trust me, it is amazing what this action can remedy. I got together with the only other friend I had with a child and we did things together. Play groups are not the same, they are once a week with people you hardly know. catching up with a friend now and again isn't gonna do it either. Form a solid bond with another mother and spend quantity time with her doing boring daily activities. I also went to a retreat and tapped into my joy again but that's another story, a long one.

I say that because meds are the only thing a medic will offer you if you see one and say you feel low after childbirth. I didn't take meds, and I came around after a few personal experiences that changed things for me. The other thing is I had naturopathy on my side, as I had studied it. I was able to formulate a hormone herbal and I started supplementing also.

I HIGHLY recommend zinc . I had posted about it before but maybe it was in the pregnancy threads way back. Research has shown zinc deficiency causes uncontrollable crying in babies and mothers. Zinc is leached from the body and dumped into the placenta towards the end of pregnancy. The way we birth these days means the full blood transfusion is not given to the baby as the cord is clamped instead of waiting for it to stop pulsing. All that zinc is taken from the mother, and then not even given to the baby. Most mammals take a big bite of placenta or eat it all except us, so we miss out on all those hormones and nutrients. We start motherhood totally deficient. I can give you a list of herbs to have made as a herbal tincture by a health food shop near you. Or you can gently start by supplementing with liquid zinc (powdered and made into liquid is fine) and taking things like raspberry leaf and nettle tea again.

Gotta fly at the mo...