Am I suffering from depression during pregnancy?

A Happy mood can ignite the house with energy, lightness and love. Mood matters during pregnancy. Your mood affects your baby in the womb.

Science today shows that the moods of the mother are passed on to the baby, research still needs to find out how it is passed on but many believe it is through the stress hormones.

7-23% women undergo depression during pregnancy and in India most doctors do not assess the pregnant women for this. At home if they find erratic behaviors they usually leave the pregnant mother alone. Postpartum depression has received so much attention than prenatal depression. Identifying your mood is important and fixing it is all the more necessary for the mothers, or anyone.

The signs and symptoms of depression during pregnancy are the same as those that occur with depression in the general population. However, additional clues that might indicate depression during pregnancy include:

• Excessive anxiety about your baby.
• Low self-esteem, such as feelings of inadequacy about parenthood.
• The inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable.
• Poor response to reassurance.
• Poor adherence to prenatal care.
• Smoking, drinking alcohol or using illicit drugs.
• Poor weight gain due to a decreased or inadequate diet.
• Thoughts of suicide.

How can I avoid bad mental health during pregnancy?

Few ways to deal with anxiety during pregnancy are:

• Talk to like minded pregnant women. Find a local or online community to engage with, share with.
• Listen to mood enhancing music and not just emotional music. Music uplifts the mood only when it is soft and soothing.
• Take time to walk around and observe nature. Spend time with flowers and the green landscape and see the diversity in them.
• Switch off horror movies, violent scenes and spend time on learning something new and constructive. Make a baby socks, solve a puzzle/crossword, write a poem or paint something. Engage the mind in healthy robust activities for you to cool off. Take your own time to complete them, be patient.
• Meditation relaxes the mind and cools off the stress. iMumz provides weekly meditation sessions directing the mother to relax without any anti-depressant medicines or pills, essentially in a healthy and natural way. These meditations have been created by expert meditators, specially for each week of pregnancy. Download today, and dive in!