By: Cara Brady - Morning Star Staff
Jamie and Jenna Hunter were thrilled to welcome Sydnee, a sister for Kael, then three, to their family.
Jenna Hunter was busy and happy and did not even think about anxiety and depression, some of the signs of postpartum depression, that she had had after her first pregnancy.
“Then I began to feel something was not normal but I was good at holding it in because I was embarrassed that I was not comfortable and out of control. I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I was suffering. I tried to regain control, even running a marathon when my daughter was five months old.
“I was in huge denial because of the stigma of having to be a perfect mother. My husband knew this was not right but felt helpless.”
Hunter has since learned that postpartum depression is not uncommon, and affects as many as 20 per cent of women in some way after birth, and that she was not alone in what was happening.
“It does not mean that you don’t love your baby. It is a recognized diagnosis and there are various ways to treat it but you do have to be aware,” she said.
She remembers that at the time she was acting in uncharacteristic ways.
“I was always organized. But then I would pack up the kids in the car to go to the store for milk and couldn’t even decide which store to go to. When I did get to the dairy section, I couldn’t decide which milk to buy. What if I made the wrong choice? I wasn’t able to make decisions. Sometimes I left the store without milk.”
Huunter knew she wasn’t functioning but she kept trying to hide it.
“I took care of the children but it was difficult to respond to them. I felt like I didn’t have any maternal feelings and I was unravelling. I was in so deep I didn’t know how to admit it. I finally got to the point where I told one of my friends and found out that she had had postpartum depression and successful treatment for it.”
Her friend suggested talking to a public health nurse and it was there that Hunter found the first hope.
“Kerryn (Keryluke, PHN) was so great. She didn’t judge me. She told me I was not alone. She didn’t fix me, she helped me to help myself,” she said.
Keryluke suggested that Hunter see her doctor and connect with the Family Resource Centre for counselling.
“Everything was overwhelming but I had to open my world and try something I hadn’t tried before on my own. I got medication — the doctor told me it was not my fault — and went to the Family Resource Centre. When I walked in there with my six-month-old daughter, I said, ‘You have to help me. There’s something wrong with me.’ I turned off all the hiding.”
Hunter had one-on-one counselling at the Family Resource Centre, which also offers postpartum support groups. She had online/telephone support through the Pacific Postpartum Support Society.
“I started to get better. It didn’t happen overnight but I learned to invest in self care. Self-Care is a huge piece. I did little things which made a huge difference in helping me heal. I was able to see the reality of being a mother, that you have good days and bad days, and the necessity of taking a little time for myself. It helped us all to a better family life.
“And when I was well, a realized that I wanted to be a nurse.”
Hunter is now a third-year nursing student at UBCO and is taking training to help mothers.
“I hope to work with families going through the big life challenge of parenting through being a public health nurse or maybe in maternity care. I’ve learned so much through this process that I want to be able to help others to be aware, that they are not alone and that they can get better,” she said.
Keryluke said that postpartum depression is now a recognized medical diagnosis and that there is a screening tool, the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale which she encourages mothers to take about eight weeks after birth.
“Our society expects women to be superwomen and put everyone ahead of themselves. Now all B.C. public health nurses have this tool available and it is way to have early intervention. Early recognition and appropriate treatment mean better health for the whole family,” she said.
