10 Tips to Eliminate Your Baby Blues

10 Tips to Eliminate Your Baby Blues

Cara Havens
By Cara Havens
There are millions of women who have experienced depression at some point in their life. Some women have minor depression while other women have depression that is more severe. If you have had depression at some point in your life or you have a family history of depression, you have a higher risk of postpartum depression or PPD after you give birth to your baby. Knowing that you could experience the baby blues after your pregnancy is through can give you the chance to prepare and possibly, even eliminate the baby blues. Depression is awful no matter what degree you are experiencing it. However, with these 10 tips, you can have a better chance of not feeling depressed or down after your baby is born.

Being Prepared for the Birth

Many women unfortunately have a traumatic birth experience. Those who do have this type of birthing experiencing have a higher risk for the baby blues. While you can’t predict exactly how your delivery will go, there are numerous ways that you can be prepared. You can be ready for different situations that might occur during the labor and delivery process. By making a plan ahead of time for how you will handle these situations, you will have less of a chance of feeling that the experience was traumatic.

Getting the Proper Care

It is important that you get the best care possible during your birthing experience. Research from the World Health Organization shows that women need proper care during the labor and birthing process to help them avoid psychological trauma. The way that the mother gets treated while they are laboring and giving birth will make a huge difference to how they feel after their baby is born. It is important that everyone who is helping the mother through her labor and to give birth is supportive. Making the mother as comfortable as possible is essential. To help prevent the baby blues after your pregnancy, be sure you tell the medical personnel what type of care and support you feel is needed.

Options for Feeding Your Baby

There are some people who are for breastfeeding and there are others who are for bottle feeding. It is important that you choose to feed your baby the way that is most comfortable for you and your family. It is essential that you make the choice that best suits the needs of you and your family, as well. Other people are certainly going to have their advice and recommendations on how you should feed your baby. Depending on your lifestyle and other things that you have going on in your life, one of these choices might be more beneficial to you and your family than the other. However, as long as you have all the information regarding both breastfeeding and bottle feeding, you can make an informed decision that will be best for you and your baby. By making the best choice, you will have a lower risk of experiencing the baby blues.

Find Help and Support Before Your Baby is Born

If you really want to prevent or eliminate the baby blues, it is helpful to get support before your baby is born. You can talk to your family members and friends. See who is willing to help you out when you need it. Even if this just means that someone comes over to keep an eye on your baby while you take a hot bath and relax by yourself for a bit, that can help a great deal. You could also check into daycares before your baby is born, if you are going to need this kind of assistance. In addition, you might want to sign up for a mom’s group. Many local areas have these types of groups. However, if you can’t find one in your area, there are many of these groups on Facebook and other places online. This way you can talk to other moms who understand what you are going through. While you might have a partner or a spouse, they might not understand what it is you are feeling exactly.

Be Sure to Have Loose Expectations

Many women who are pregnant have specific expectations for how they want their labor and birthing process to go. For instance, you might have expectations that your labor will be no longer than 6 hours and that the contractions will not be so bad. You might not want an epidural or pain medications. You might say that you will never get a c-section. While it is a great idea to have a plan for your birthing experiencing, not everything goes as planned. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen during labor and delivery that can make your plans change. You can have expectations, just make sure that you are willing to be flexible and understanding if things must steer away from that plan.

Being Practical for After Your Baby is Born

It is also important that you are being practical for what is going to happen after your baby is born. If you want to eliminate the baby blues, you must not expect that you are going to be able to do everything right when you get home from having your baby. Some new mothers think they will still be able to make full-out meals every night of the week, clean their entire home, run errands, take their other children to sporting events, and everything else. This is not practical. It might be helpful to have dinners prepared and frozen ahead of time. This way you can just pull one out and toss it into the oven sometime after your baby is born. In regard to household chores and errands, you might want to see if someone else is able to help you with these things for a while.

Exercising and Diet Options

If you are already experiencing the baby blues or if you would like to try preventing this from happening, two of the things that could help you is exercising and eating right. Both of these things can help a lot when trying to prevent or get rid of depression. Since you won’t have a tone of time to cook healthy meals right after you give birth, you can buy some premade meals instead. If you have the time and feel up to it before your baby comes, you could make some frozen, healthy meals before you give birth. You can also make sure you always have some nuts, oats, bananas, and avocados on hand. You can also make sure that you have other fruits and cut up veggies ready to go. This way if you are looking for a snack you can grab something healthy every time. These are great for preventing and fighting off depression. This is because they help to boost serotonin, the happy-making hormone, in the brain.

Walking every day, even for 15 minutes, is a great idea for eliminating the baby blues. You can even bring your baby along in their wrap, sling, or stroller. Even these short walks, after you give birth, can help you to build your mental and physical strength up.

Using Prescribed Antidepressants

If you have tried other routes for managing your baby blues, it might be time to see a doctor about it. There are millions of women who have depression or symptoms of depression after they give birth. While this is not what you wanted to happen, it is more normal than you might think. There are numerous antidepressants that are safe for mother and baby, even if you are breastfeeding. If you need help managing and treating your depression, call your doctor to schedule an appointment. You can talk to them about prescription antidepressants and what the best treatment plan would be for your individual situation and symptoms.

Other Types of Depression Treatments

In addition to or standing alone from prescription antidepressants, you can also check into other depression treatment options. There are many choices. Some of these include cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectal behavior therapy, and mindfulness. CBT and DBT are both types of psychotherapy. Mindfulness could help you to clear and refocus your mind.

Recognizing and Admitting to Depression Triggers

Another what that you can eliminate the baby blues is by being able to recognize and admit to your depression triggers. Everyone has various things that trigger negative feelings. Some of the things that might be triggering your depression is not getting enough support, isolating yourself, losing your identity, feeling overwhelmed, and much more. If you can recognize the triggers that lead to your depression you can do a much better job at managing, treating, and possibly even getting rid of the depression.

State and Follow Through with Your Own Needs

Many new mothers will put every ounce of their energy into their baby. You want to be the best mother possible and that is understandable. However, that does not mean that you need to or that you can do it all. It is important that you state and follow through with your own needs, as well. You are going to need breaks from time to time. You are going to need someone to talk to or even vent to. Ask those that you care about and trust to be there to support you and your needs. Being a new mother can be a bit frightening. However, it is very exciting at the same time. While the baby blues could happen to you, just as easily as they could to any other new mother, it is important to use the tips above to eliminate the depression and negative feelings. By doing so, you can have a much better experience when raising and caring for your newborn.

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