Pregnancy Blues: What Every Woman Needs to Know about Depression During Pregnancy

By Shaila Kulkarni Misri

Book Overview

It should be a time of joyous anticipation-the happiest time in a woman's life. But for many women, the joys of pregnancy are clouded by feelings of fear, sadness, and confusion. And unlike postpartum depression, which is widely portrayed in the media and embraced by the medical community, depression during pregnancy has been rarely discussed and often misunderstood-until now. In this groundbreaking book-the first to focus exclusively on depression in pregnancy-Dr. Shaila Kulkarni Misri, a leading reproductive psychiatrist, draws on her twenty-five years of clinical practice and research to offer hope, help, and healing-as well as a provocative, myth-shattering examination of a subject that has too long been shrouded in darkness.

The numbers are surprising: up to 70 percent of pregnant women experience some degree of depressive symptoms, and of those, 12 percent meet the diagnostic criteria for major depression. Although it is at least as common as postpartum depression, which occurs after a child's birth, pregnancy-related depression is often cloaked in silence, shame, and denial. Pregnancy Blues lifts the veil on this heartbreaking-and very treatable-
illness, examining the key social and biological factors that can come together during pregnancy to create a climate in which depression and anxiety thrive, as well as offering the many effective treatments that are available. Discover:

- How to recognize the signs and symptoms of depression-and know when to seek help
- The role of female hormones: why women are more vulnerable to depression than men
- How depression can "hide" behind physical complaints, such as back, stomach, or even chest pain
- The unspoken connection between infertility and depression
- The antidepressant controversy: the facts on specific drugs, their safety-and when medication is the right choice
- Breastfeeding and medication-the risks and benefits

Plus helpful self-tests and resources, information on alternative treatment options-from therapy to acupuncture-and much more. A work of daring and compassion, Pregnancy Blues challenges the underlying traditions and beliefs surrounding pregnancy and motherhood-and explores how those misconceptions have led to the drastic underdiagnosis and undertreatment of depression during pregnancy. A must-read for women and those who love them, Pregnancy Blues is at once an extraordinary roadmap to healing and an eye-opening report on a medical issue that no woman can afford to miss.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385338678
• ISBN13: 9780385338677
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Delta
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Amazing Essential Reference Plus enjoyable read

I love this book. There are others that have gotten awards for pregnancy and depression and I don't know why. This is the A#1 book. It is written from a multi-cultural perspective. It is not fear based but filled with great information. I have not read any other book by anyone with as much experience as this author. She sees over 3,000 women a year in her Canadian based pregnancy depression clinic. She has so many resources to share. She treats depression as a regular normal health condition. She does not act like all medicine is bad. She does not make you feel evil for selecting to take care of yourself. She is just lovely. This book has a fantastic balance of clinical information - in easy to understand language and cultural nuances of birth and pregnancy. It really takes in the whole person. I love this book. I wish I would have had it before I got pregnant or I would have had an easier pregnancy. I can't recommend this book highly enough.