Postpartum stress is a very common condition in diaper mothers, often associated with a depressed state, a drop in hormones and the pressure of caring for a baby. Early remedial measures should be taken to avoid adverse effects on health and quality of life.
Diaper mothers absolutely must not be subjective with postpartum stress
What is postpartum stress?
After giving birth, a mother’s body undergoes some major physiological and psychological changes. This is a favorable condition that causes postpartum stress and many other psychological problems. For example, anxiety disorders, emotional disorders, depression, etc.
In fact, stress is a common response when the body tries to adapt to the pressures and difficulties of life. This situation is not really worrisome when it only happens for a short time. However, in postpartum women, stress tends to persist for many reasons.
Stress not only affects the mother’s emotions but also causes other health problems. Such as hair loss, insomnia, headache, body weakness, shoulder pain and loss of milk. In addition, mothers also face a lot of troubles in life.
Postpartum stress can occur in both women who give birth naturally and by cesarean section. If there is no timely remedy, nervous stress will cause many serious consequences. Especially increases the risk of experiencing psycho-psychiatric disorders.
Signs of postpartum stress
Many diaper mothers tend to be stressed in a short time. After that, when the hormones have stabilized, this condition will also gradually decrease. However, many mothers suffer from prolonged stress that causes many effects on both physical and mental health.
Here are some signs to help identify postpartum stress:
1. Excessive worry
Postpartum women often think and worry more than others. Anxiety may stem from your own unusual symptoms after giving birth or about your health and how to take care of your baby.
In addition, diaper mothers often worry about the appearance as well as the look of others. Being messy and ugly themselves makes them think more. This is the most common manifestation of postpartum stress.
2. Prolonged fatigue
Nervous stress can cause the body to produce more hormones cortisol, norepinephrine, adrenaline, etc. These hormones often cause feelings of fatigue, depression, lethargy, heart palpitations and nervousness.
Nervous stress can make the mother tired and weak for a long time
Meanwhile, after going through the process of giving birth, the mother needs time for the body to fully recover. If stressed, the recovery process will be affected, causing the mother to fall into a prolonged state of fatigue.
3. Postpartum stress causes sleep disturbance
Diaper moms may really want to sleep but can’t sleep even when their baby sleeps well. This is one of the signs to help identify postpartum stress.
Most stressed moms share that they always feel awake, have difficulty falling asleep and tend to stay awake to see if their baby is sleeping well. In addition, some mothers can’t sleep even if they don’t care about their baby’s sleep.
4. Loss of concentration and difficulty relaxing
Loss of concentration and difficulty relaxing are also common manifestations in stressed mothers. For example, a piece of music that can help relax and increase concentration for ordinary people is completely useless for diaper mothers.
In particular, when the mother is under stress, the state of concentration and memory loss tends to last to a serious extent. If you do not fix it soon, you will encounter a lot of troubles in work as well as in life.
5. Body aches
Stress hormones are often produced more when the mother is under stress. This is the leading cause of muscle tension, back pain, shoulder pain and pain in the whole body.
In case of prolonged stress, the mother also suffers from headaches, dizziness, and dizziness due to reduced blood flow to the brain when the muscles in the neck and shoulders are tense. If the body aches for a long time, pregnant women need to pay attention to stress.
Body aches are also a common sign of postpartum stress
6. Other manifestations of postpartum stress
In addition to the symptoms mentioned above, when stressed, mothers can also experience other signs. Consists of:
- Sadness, pessimism
- Anorexia, digestive disorders…
- My skin is dark
- Hair loss
- Unstable mood
- Uncontrolled weight loss or weight gain
- Reduced flexibility
- The body is always lacking energy
Causes of postpartum stress
Childbirth is a very sensitive process in a woman’s life. After giving birth, there are many factors that make the risk of stress increased many times compared to a normal partner.
Common causes of postpartum stress include:
1. Effects of labor
During labor, the amount of the hormones cortisol and epinephrine in the mother’s body will increase by about 500%. The production of large amounts of these hormones will help the birth process go smoothly.
However, after giving birth, the levels of the hormones cortisol and epinephrine in the body remain high. This is identified as one of the common causes of postpartum stress, anxiety, boredom and pessimism.
2. Hormonal changes
During pregnancy, the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the mother’s body will increase rapidly with each stage of pregnancy. However, within 1 day of giving birth, the levels of these hormones drop rapidly to pre-pregnancy levels.
Sudden changes in the hormones estrogen and progesterone make the mother’s physiology affected. In addition, the drop in thyroid hormone postpartum can also cause symptoms of nervous tension.
Sudden changes in endocrine hormones can cause mothers to be nervous
3. First time mother
Women who have just given birth for the first time, especially giving birth at a young age, are often not mentally prepared. They seem to be struggling to welcome a new member in their life.
Moreover, these mothers are very clumsy in taking care of their children. This will increase their stress and anxiety. This increases the risk of nervous tension and other psychological problems.
4. Insomnia causes postpartum stress
Postpartum women often have insomnia due to many reasons. The most common are over-sensitivity of organs, hormonal changes or the effects of postpartum pain.
In addition, mothers also have to stay up at night often when their children are hungry, crying or sick. Insomnia has many negative effects on physical and mental health. It is also a common cause of postpartum stress.
5. Postpartum inferiority complex
Pregnancy and childbirth make the mother’s appearance change for the worse. Many women always feel guilty about their ugly appearance, shaggy skin, dark skin and acne.
In addition, many diaper mothers also tend to force themselves to try to diet to lose weight. Many unsuccessful cases make the mental state even more depressed, causing prolonged stress.
6. Financial pressure causes postpartum stress
Financial stress has been identified as a relatively common cause of postpartum stress. Tight finances or financial problems such as family bankruptcy, husband’s job loss, salary cut, etc. can make mothers more stressed and worried. In some cases, they even develop postpartum depression.
Financial pressure is a common cause of postnatal stress for many mothers
7. Other causes
Besides the causes mentioned above, a number of other factors can also increase the risk of postpartum stress. Such as:
- Pre-existing psychological problems during pregnancy
- Family conflict, husband does not care about wife and children
- Genetic factors
- Baby born with health problems or birth defects
- Decreased sex drive
- No support from family
- Facing psychological trauma
- History of postpartum stress or depression
- Ever experienced pregnancy complications?
Effects of postpartum stress
Stress is a common problem in postpartum women. Although it has a lower severity and is also somewhat easier to treat than depression, mothers absolutely must not be subjective.
Statistics show that stress affects more than 80% of diaper mothers. This is a completely normal reaction due to hormonal changes and other related problems. However, if no timely control measures are taken, serious consequences can occur.
Prolonged stress can cause mothers to face the following problems:
- Physical and mental health is affected. Diaper mothers are very susceptible to physical weakness, rapid weight loss, prolonged insomnia, etc.
- Loss of milk or reduced quality of milk affects the health and immune system of your baby
- Exacerbation of pre-existing medical conditions in postpartum women
- Increases the risk of other mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders, depression, etc.
- Diaper moms need more time to recover and return to work
- Increasing conflicts in the family due to the mother’s temper, psychological instability
It can be seen that postpartum stress causes a lot of bad effects on the health and quality of life of diaper mothers. Moreover, it also indirectly affects the health and development of the baby.
In particular, some cases of prolonged nervous tension also cause mothers to suffer from depression or anxiety disorders. This can increase suicidal thoughts and behavior.
In fact, in recent years, the number of postpartum women who commit suicide is increasing. Therefore, mothers and their families need to pay more attention to both mental and physical health.
How to deal with postpartum stress effectively
In normal people, when under stress, the body will have a self-regulating mechanism after a few days to a few weeks. However, for women after giving birth, stress often persists for a long time.
Diaper mothers need to find solutions to relieve stress, limit risks to health and quality of life. Here are some solutions that may help:
1. Take time to rest
Mothers are usually busy all day with taking care of their children and cleaning the house. Especially in first-time mothers who do not have much experience. The mother’s living time must completely depend on the baby, so many mothers do not know how to arrange a reasonable rest time.
Diaper moms are advised to take a nap when their baby sleeps
Ideally, mothers should take advantage of rest and nap when the baby sleeps. Don’t spend this time doing errands or cleaning the house. Rest is still more important, helping mothers get mentally comfortable and avoid prolonged stress.
In addition, mothers can balance their time by making a schedule to take care of their children. This is a simple solution to help ensure a balanced diet for both mother and baby. At the same time, support mothers to build a healthy lifestyle.
2. Share the pressure of taking care of children with your loved ones
Taking care of young children is indeed a very laborious and arduous process. Especially for women who give birth for the first time, do not have much experience. Sharing the pressure and receiving support from husbands and relatives is an effective remedy for postpartum stress.
Diaper mothers should not keep negative thoughts and frustrations inside. Instead, share with your husband, relatives or friends to receive listening and empathy. Relatives will give advice for mothers to take better care of themselves and their children.
In addition, mothers should share child care and housework with relatives. This will help reduce pressure, have more time to rest, and avoid body weakness. It also reduces negative emotions.
3. Eat healthy
Diet is the first factor that mothers need to pay attention to after giving birth. Mothers need to establish a healthy and balanced diet to ensure health and have enough milk for their babies.
In particular, the consumption of some healthy foods also helps reduce postpartum stress. When building a diet, mothers need to pay attention to the following issues:
- Absolutely do not skip meals, need to eat a balanced diet to ensure energy for the body. Diaper mothers should add foods rich in slow-release carbohydrates. For example, whole wheat bread, brown rice or pasta.
- Choose unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats. Mothers should eat olive oil and margarine, should not consume animal fat.
- Supplement full nutrients for the body from fresh, healthy food groups. It is necessary to limit the consumption of confectionery, chocolate, ready-to-eat foods, hot spicy foods, fried foods with too much fat, etc.
- Replenish enough water for the body, about 2 – 2.5 liters / day. In addition to drinking filtered water, you can add milk, juice from fresh vegetables and fruits.
- Absolutely do not consume alcohol, coffee or bottled soft drinks. Also avoid smoking or inhaling secondhand smoke.
Eating healthy helps moms have enough energy, nutrients and better stress elimination
4. Physical activity reduces postpartum stress
Physical activity is a natural remedy for both physical and mental health. Exercise helps your body release more endorphins. From there, bring feelings of joy, relaxation and comfort.
However, postpartum women need to be more careful when exercising. It is advisable to start with gentle exercises for the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. In addition, when the body has recovered, it is possible to go for a short walk.
For mothers who give birth by cesarean section, absolutely do not exercise when the wound has not healed. Talk to your doctor about when you can return to normal physical activity.
5. Apply relaxation measures
During childbirth, the body releases large amounts of stress hormones. About a few months after giving birth, diaper mothers often experience excessive stress, think a lot and have a constant feeling of anxiety.
It is best for mothers to apply relaxation measures to relieve stress. It also helps to balance emotions, relax and comfort the spirit.
Relaxation measures to reduce postpartum stress include:
- Sitting meditation: This is a very good therapy to nourish the mind and calm the mind after giving birth. Meditation will help relax muscles and tendons, increase blood circulation and support hormonal balance. Especially, it helps mothers release negative emotions and overcome stress effectively.
- Aromatherapy: Exposure to your favorite scents will help relax your mind and eliminate stress. Mothers can smell essential oils directly, use a diffuser or add essential oils to bath water. It is best to choose warm essential oils such as cinnamon, ginger, eucalyptus, etc.
- Drink herbal tea: Some herbal teas not only help relax the mind, but also take good care of sleep and relieve physical symptoms. Diaper moms can drink chrysanthemum tea, ginger tea or mint tea to help eliminate stress.
- Soak in warm water: This is a simple trick to promote blood circulation and relax the body. Mothers can soak with herbal decoction such as green tea, betel nut or mugwort to effectively relieve stress.
6. Counseling – Psychotherapy
As analyzed, postpartum stress is related to many different causes. In addition to the pressure of taking care of children and doing housework, it is also due to health, financial pressure, family conflicts, etc. And it is not easy for mothers to overcome all these factors.
In case of need, mothers should actively seek psychological counseling to receive timely support. Psychotherapy is a simple and safe method to help mothers become aware of the problems they are facing. At the same time, assess the severity of the problem and find the most suitable solution.
Psychologists will accompany the mother during the treatment process. Not only do moms-to-be get rid of stress well, but they also hone skills to manage and prevent future stress.
Diaper mothers absolutely must not be subjective with postpartum stress. If home remedies do not work, you should actively seek out a psychologist. Timely and properly intervention will prevent arising risks that greatly affect health and quality of life.
