Self Care for Mothers and Partners

Feeling Blue

Perinatal Depression

Perinatal depression is depression that may happen any time from when you first become pregnant to one year after your baby is born. Perinatal depression can impact you physically and affect your emotions, thinking, and behaviours. As many as one in five women in British Columbia will experience a major depression during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth. Perinatal depression can happen to women of all ages, cultures and levels of education.

For more information about perinatal depression, click here.

Prenatal Depression

During your pregnancy, your body and hormones are changing, and you have to adjust to having a baby growing inside you. While having a baby is usually a time of celebration, is can also be a stressful time, and you may find it hard to cope with sudden changes to your life. These changes may leave you feeling sad, overwhelmed and confused. For many women, the feelings go away quickly. But if these feelings persist or get worse, you could be experiencing prenatal depression.

Depression during pregnancy can have an impact on your health, your pregnancy, the health of your developing baby, and the ability for you to care for yourself and your baby after the birth. It is important to seek help so you can have the healthiest pregnancy and reduce the likelihood of experiencing postpartum depression.

Here are some common signs of prenatal depression: