The Not-So-Pretty Side Of Pregnancy

Just as with everything life has to offer, there is a flip side to pregnancy as well. The fact remains, there are a lot of negatives, that if gone noticed and left unchecked, will lead to a much bigger problems.

- Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

FIRST-TIME mommy, Rashmi Mayur, was ecstatic when she brought her newborn home. Having read almost every book and online article possible on motherhood, she was sure that she would have it all under control, for the most part at least. It was a wonderful feeling being home with her baby, surround by the unconditional love and support of her husband, parents and in-laws. She was pampered and she was thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. And then one morning, a week after giving birth, Rashmi suddenly began to feel very sad. “Everything was going perfectly, yet I could barely control the tears. I felt miserably lonely and not even the sleeping peaceful face of my child could cheer me up,” she recalls.

Rashmi considers herself a rational human being, and true to form, she tried to reason things and find an answer to the problem. But this was one that she just could not fathom. “All day long I held my feelings in. I would go into the bathroom and sob when I felt I couldn’t handle it. My husband and mother took little time to catch on that something was not right, and then I just sat there in the living room, bawling my heart out, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why!” she admits.

That’s when Rashmi’s caretaker, an elderly woman turned around and said, “I told you so”. Apparently, she had spoken to Rashmi’s mother, and warned her not to leave Rashmi alone with her baby, just a week into the delivery. The ‘big depression’ is what she had called it and said that this flow of negative emotions happened to most new mothers. While some pass through it with just tears, for others, it can be rather nasty, even leading to them harm their children. In the medical world, it is known as ‘Baby Blues’.