Maternal Mental Health

"As many as 1 in 5 women have mental health problems in pregnancy or after birth. It can happen to anyone. Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health problems in pregnancy. These affect about 10 to 15 out of every 100 pregnant women. Just like at other times in life, you can have many different types of mental illness and the severity can vary.  You may already have had a mental illness when you became pregnant." https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/treatments-and-wellbeing/mental-health-in-pregnancy If you're feeling depressed, anxious, no connection with your baby, can't get over gender disappointment, or have any negative feeling towards your pregnancy and/or baby, please talk to your OB about it. Maternal mental health isn't something openly talked about here in the Philippines, especially with high expectations that moms should be excited to meet their babies, that pregnancy is a blessing, and so on. But pregnancy alters your hormone level so much that you'd have mood swings, acne, and sometimes your own emotions towards pregnancy. No, this does not make you a bad mom for as long as you're not doing anything that would harm your baby. Feelings are just feelings, and there are ways to work through them. And as moms here, we all know how challenging it is to be pregnant, to give birth, and to be a parent. The world is harsh enough as it is, and people are often too quick to judge moms about their feelings, how they raise their kids, etc. So please, if you see another mom struggling, help her out. Don't judge her. If you see them talking about their feelings, let them, and point them to resources if you know any. Wag po tayong judgemental sa mga kapwa nanay natin kung nakakaranas sila ng ganito. Let us try to be supportive. Let us be a community of women supporting other women. #pregnancy #mentalhealth