The "Baby Blues"

After about the first week of having your baby, you may begin to experience mood changes. Hormones changes, exhaustion, and the anxiety of a new child can make you sad. These are normal feelings and will go away in a few weeks.

In more serious cases, some women feel very depressed and are unable to take care of themselves or their babies. This is called postnatal or postpartum depression or the “baby blues.” If this depression lasts longer than two weeks or if you're having some of the following conditions, call your doctor right away:

• You aren't able to sleep and you feel irritable.
• You're sad, depressed, and cry a lot.
• You have no energy.
• You have headaches, chest pains, numbness, fast and shallow breathing, your heart beats fast, or it feels like it is skipping beats.
• You aren't able to eat, or you're eating too much.
• You can't focus, remember things, or make decisions.
• You have no interest in the things you used to like to do, including having sex.
• You have no interest in your baby.
• You feel worthless and guilty.
• You're afraid you might hurt the baby or yourself.