Season 2: Episode 2 Understanding and Supporting Mothers with Postpartum Depression: An Insightful Conversation with Sha'meika Davis, LCSW

Have you ever wondered how to support a new mother who may be struggling with postpartum depression? Today's episode features an insightful conversation with licensed clinical social worker Sha'meika Davis, who has both personal and professional experience with this challenging condition. We break down the difference between the common "baby blues" and the more serious condition of postpartum depression and discuss misconceptions, societal views, and resources available for those in need.

Sha'meika shares her expertise on how to create a supportive environment for mothers dealing with postpartum depression and stresses the importance of speaking out and seeking help. We also explore ways to bring awareness to society and provide resources for those in need. Don't miss this essential conversation on the reality of postpartum depression and the steps we can take to support the mental health of new mothers. Listen to learn more about how to navigate this difficult topic and offer the necessary support to those who may be struggling.

Powerful The Podcast Intro

Powerful the podcast  Outro Music

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Welcome to Powerful Podcast. Today, our topic we're going to be talking about postpartum depression, and we have a wonderful guest today. Her name is Shamika Davis. She's a licensed clinical social worker who resides in Brandon, mississippi. She is married to Anthony Davis and they have two beautiful daughters, jasmine and Haven. Anthony and Shamika are the owners of a faith-based mental health clinic. Davis therapeutic services serve in the state of Mississippi. She has experienced both treaty mothers who have struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety and overcoming the struggles in her personal life. She enjoys spending time with her family and she enjoys traveling. Thank you for joining us today, davis. how are you doing?

Speaker 2: 1:23

Thank you so much, ms Carlisle and Julie, for having me. I'm excited, i'm well and I'm very honored to be with you guys today.

Speaker 1: 1:32

Okay, well, we're going to get right on into it. Can you tell our audience what actually is postpartum depression?

Speaker 2: 1:41

Yes. So we got to understand first, shauna, that typically after having a baby, moms do experience what we call baby blues After childbirth, and this is very common. It's going to include the mood swings, crying spills, some anxiety, difficulty sleeping, things like that, and this can last up to two weeks. But when those symptoms are very severe and they're long-blasting, then we transition to what we call postpartum depression And sometimes it's called peripartum depression because it can actually start doing breaks and continue after childbirth. But postpartum depression includes those symptoms that include a severe mood swing.

Speaker 2: 2:27

You have difficulty caring for your baby, difficulty engaged in daily past functions that you would typically do. You see a very significant withdrawal from your family and your friends. Appletite is considerably different from your norm. It is an eating way too much or you're not eating enough. You have fear. A lot of moms experience some fear of being a good mom And then you have this increased fear, stability and anger. It's hopelessness. A lot of these symptoms are very similar to what we would diagnose in major depression disorder. Postpartum depression is not general depression. Typically with postpartum depression you're going to see a sudden if the nippic can drop in estrogen and progesterone level in our mom. This is typically the trigger of the symptoms when we start to transition from the baby blues to postpartum depression.

Speaker 1: 3:27

Okay. Can you provide some misconceptions regarding this diagnosis? I think postpartum depression still is not taken as seriously as it needs to be.

Speaker 2: 3:38

Yes, there are several concepts. One is a lot of times people and even some professionals think that postpartum depression occurs in the first few months after childbirth. So when you have a mom whose symptoms don't become evident or present themselves until up to a year after childbirth, then usually it's late onset postpartum depression and it's misdiagnosed. Then you have this misconception that postpartum depression only occurs in women. Men can experience what we call paternal postnatal depression, which includes those symptoms that are very similar to postpartum depression, but oftentimes men are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Then there's this misconception that postpartum depression only occurs after live births. But you have moms who experience postpartum depression after still birth and miscarriage. Then oftentimes the symptoms are not diagnosed properly because it's a misconception that because it was not a live birth and you're not caring for the baby and experiencing the stressors of caring for a newborn, then you're not experiencing postpartum depression.

Speaker 2: 4:51

Another one is that postpartum depression is automatic high risk factor for a mom hurting herself or her baby. That is a misconception. The reason I say that is because a lot of the clients that I treat weren't afraid to speak out about the symptoms in experiences because they were afraid to the provider would call CPS and make a report. There was no risk of harm to them for their babies. They were just experiencing a complication after birth, which is what postpartum depression is. It's a complication after birth. Automatically assuming that a mom is at risk of harm in herself or her baby is a misconception that causes a lot of challenges with moms being able to see treatment.

Speaker 1: 5:43

Do you think that these diagnosis are taken seriously in society? Me personally, i think we had started to come around, but I think we still have a long way to go. I was reading on the news. It was a mother who suffered from postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. They had her on medication. She was told not to be left along with her kids. She always had to have somebody with her but she was receiving inpatient treatment. But something happened with her insurance and they had to discharge her. Well, the dad. he went to go get something to eat. He came back and she had unfortunately killed the children. It was one of those cases where people in the comments was like how can you kill your children? She doesn't have postpartum depression, she doesn't have postpartum psychosis. It was just like they labeled it, because it was her children, that it was a fictitious diagnosis. So I don't know if you heard anything about that story or not.

Speaker 2: 7:01

Not that one in particular, but many that are similar. Postpartum psychosis is definitely a higher risk of harm to self or the baby as opposed to postpartum depression. When you're dealing with postpartum psychosis, typically there are hallucinations and delusions that are occurring. That makes your reality work. It causes substantial stressor on top of the RR symptoms that you're dealing with, but I don't feel like it's really being taken seriously in society. Now we got to understand, shalana, that large scale societal awareness of postpartum depression really wasn't a thing until the 1980s, and that wasn't that long ago. And so, sixth, then we also have to consideration that nearly 50% of women who experience post-partum depression don't speak out. So there's so many statistics that are not relevant to the actual numbers. Now, the statistics that we do have, you know, it's a general idea of approximation, which is one in 10 women will experience post-partum depression. Some studies even say one instead of women. But even out of that, one in five women will never speak out. And so, because there's still a stigma associated with it, there's still a lot of fear associated with speaking out. I don't think that the awareness is where it needs to be. Because of that, society does not take it serious when it comes to prominent case.

Speaker 2: 8:45

What strategies do you think we can put in place to combat these diagnoses or to bring awareness to society so they can take it seriously? I think one of the main strategies that needs a lot of focus is helping moms and families and friends understand that it's okay to speak out about their experience. Then, also, to couple with that, have supported safe places for them to do so, which they don't always feel they have. I have several clients who have reported instances where they tried to speak out to their providers and they were misunderstood or they were not taking it seriously And so it damaged their experience of trying to speak out. Another thing we can do is just make sure that moms are aware of resources that are available to them. One of the two national resources is 1-800-273-TALK. That's a national hotline that moms can call just to talk, invent and express what they're going through in day-to-day motherhood, and this is a great opportunity to allow them to have a release so that symptoms and experiences and stresses don't exacerbate and become worse. Another one 800 PPD moms, and this is specifically for moms who are experiencing post-partum depression. It's 1-800-773-6667. So having those resources in local resources will be very beneficial to moms, give them an outlet so that they don't have to suffer in silence, they don't have to hold things in.

Speaker 2: 10:35

And then, encouraging moms and their families to you know stuff, things like being kind to yourself, you know, and including yourself from grace, allowing yourself to take a moment to just focus on you.

Speaker 2: 10:49

So, if it means catching up on a movie or taking a longest thing in bed, having families that can come in and help out with day-to-day tasks to give mom a break, a lot of times we're so focused on the baby that we forget about, you know, the illness that moms may need help, even if it's just folding a load of clothes. And then, lastly, there are a few things that I would encourage every parent to do is skin to skin contact. We focus on skin, skin right after babies. What they're extending skin contact, you know. We spend months after babies oranges still having those moments 10, 15 minutes a day where you have skin and skin, and it's been very beneficial at preventing the risk of post-partum depression. The foods that are high in omega 3, research has shown is very beneficial, especially if it is incorporated in your diet during pregnancy. It's very beneficial at lowering the risk of post-partum depression.

Speaker 1: 11:54

Ms Davis, do you think we're just listening to you with the post-partum depression and have seen an increase in those numbers, do you know, or do you think we may need to start having a screener while they're in the hospital after discharge, post-discharge, maybe some type of screener, and if the screener is high, you know, for depression, maybe encourage them to connect them with somebody that can provide, you know, three sessions of therapy. You know, to start that conversation because you're right, sometimes you know moms, especially if they're very strong moms, they think they can handle it all And I think sometimes we can find innovative ways to get them the help they need. The screener test high, okay. Well, here's a list of people. We strongly encourage you to do these three sessions, even if insurance start paying for this, so that we can kind of catch some of those numbers to get them what they need. Sometimes people don't know what they need until you give it to them.

Speaker 2: 13:02

Right, yes, i definitely think that's neat And not just you know for when mom is going for checkup. I think those screeners are beneficial when you take baby for a two week checkup, you know, checking in with mom and see how mom is doing, you know, and definitely at mom six week checkup. But yeah, I think those will be very helpful just to bridge the gap between you know a suffering mom and the resources that could be available to help her in their transition.

Speaker 1: 13:35

Absolutely Includes our segment on postpartum depression. I want to thank Miss Davis for joining us today And I hope you all have a great day. Miss Davis tech information will be on our social media sites If you want to connect with her her practice for any additional assistance. Thank you so much. You all have a great day.