The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale is a screening tool each new mother in America is supposed to receive around six weeks after giving birth. While it can be a helpful resource for indicating the ever-common postpartum anxiety and depression, I soon learned that other physiological symptoms can impact new motherhood - symptoms I had never heard of before and that are left largely unscreened.
I am experiencing symptoms that aren't on this questionnaire. And that scares me. I write nothing on the questionnaire and turn it in. I am aware of the roller coaster of hormones that accompany the postpartum period, but I don't anticipate them.
Exhausted with tear-streaked faces, my husband and I gaze lovingly at this marvelous being we have created. She was later than her due date but came out tiny and shrieking, a firecracker in our peaceful little world.
I don't realize something is wrong until day six when the wave of complete exhaustion starts to subside. My pregnancy is uneventful. No mood swings or medical concerns.
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