Postnatal depression treatment
At Priory, we can provide specialist treatment for postnatal depression through our nationwide network of hospitals and wellbeing centres. We can also provide help for antenatal depression (depression during pregnancy).
Your mental health during pregnancy and after the birth of a baby is just as important as your physical health at these times. The right treatment will help you stay as well as possible and enjoy family life.
Depending on how severe your postnatal depression symptoms are, we can offer a number of different treatment programmes:
We can also offer lots of different therapy formats to help you with your postpartum depression. These include:
- 1:1 therapy
- Group therapy
- Family therapy
The main type of therapy that we use in postpartum depression treatment is a technique known as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This helps you to change your negative thinking patterns, which are common in postnatal depression. During pregnancy or after birth, depression can mean that you lack confidence or judge yourself negatively as a parent. CBT aims to give you the techniques to challenge these thoughts and improve your mood. It can help you to feel more confident in being a parent and to enjoy your pregnancy, baby, and other children more.
Antidepressants for postnatal depression
Antidepressants can be used on their own or alongside CBT to treat antenatal and postnatal depression. If you have more severe depression, or if your depression hasn't improved with talking therapy, this may mean you need antidepressant medication.
There are lots of different types of antidepressant medication. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are most commonly used to treat depression in pregnancy and after birth. These help to restore the balance of chemicals in your brain that are known to regulate mood and emotions. You may have been taking antidepressants before you were pregnant, or you may need to start taking them during pregnancy or after birth.
Whatever the case, you should discuss the safety of antidepressants in pregnancy and breastfeeding with your doctor. Your doctor will help you to weigh up the benefits of this type of treatment in your individual case. If you're already taking antidepressant medication when you get pregnant, it’s important that you don’t stop taking this without getting professional advice first.
Depression following the birth of a baby can have a devastating impact on what can be a joyous time in your life. It’s important to remember that postpartum depression is entirely treatable, and with specialist help, you can recover and enjoy family life.