How I Told My Son About Postpartum Depression
And helped other moms in the process
When I was 8 years old, my parents welcomed their third and final child — a boy, my little brother. My older sister and I were pretty excited to have a new little brother. After all, it’d been just us girls for so long, and what little girl doesn’t want a real, live baby to hold? While we instantly took to the little guy, I distinctly remember my mom being different after she came from the hospital after having him.
My once affectionate, doting, and involved mom became distant, disoriented, and out of it. The truth was the mom that left that night to go have my baby brother and the one who came home were like two different people. Even at 8, I could sense something was wrong.
In 1993, the term “Postpartum Depression” was still relatively new. According to Women’s Health Magazine, it first started being used in the late 1970s. Before that, it was just called “The Baby Blues.”
I distinctly remember my parents calling us into the family room one sunny afternoon a few months after my brother was born. My mom was crying and my dad was rubbing her back. They told us that my mom had something called postpartum depression and that means she gets sad for different reasons because she just had a baby. I asked how she would get better, and…
