Table 3

Mothers reporting postpartum onset of depressive symptomatology and initial reference to husband

Mother

Onset of Symptoms

Initial Reference to Husband

M1

... around 4 1/2 months and ah I started to recognize that there was something terribly wrong

I told [my husband] I hadn't slept in two weeks ... and my husband ... he drove me to the hospital

M3

... the first month ...the mood ... sit there by myself and cry and then feel guilty ... I suffered from a lot of anxiety

... my husband he was pretty much caring for [the baby] through the night/I would care for [the baby] during the day and as soon as he would come home I was out of the picture

M4

... I knew I needed help at three month and I waited for the four month checkup with the baby

... make everything look perfect on the outside ... [the doctor] asked me how much I was sleeping ... my husband said/"What!"/he had no clue that I wasn't sleeping

M6

I was getting the anxiety that you know ... but I know one night I was really bad like ... close to four months [postpartum]

Then one night I thought I heard her cry all night/my husband said she didn't cry at all and so I guess my nerves were really bad and then one day I said like to my husband/"I couldn't/I just couldn't deal"

M8

... [my child] was 13 months and um started having real anxiety about being alone with [my child] and um feeling very overwhelmed with her care

... my husband was out of town overnight so I knew he wasn't going to be at the house that night and I was just going to be on my own and I was just very overwhelmed

M10

It started pretty much when [my child] was born and it didn't take long for me to know that it was bad

I tried to tell my husband but just like he kinda tried to deny it

M13

I had depression right of the bat like within the first month/I didn't realize when it was happening/I just knew that I was stressed out and I I felt different

My husband involved my mother

M14

2 1/2 days after I had the baby/that evening I had a panic attach/I didn't know what it was

... next day [my baby] had an appointment with the doctor/my husband and I explained what happened ... that night it happened again but much worse/my husband had to call someone over

M16

I had a bit of postpartum with my first ... with my second and in fact sought help from a doctor then/I knew right away what if was with the third one

My husband could see it in me and you know he would ask me you know/"what's going on with you and the more supportive he got the more I wanted to cry"

M17

When the baby was eight weeks/exactly eight weeks/I was having a lot of physical symptoms

... so the realization [concerning PPD] came just mainly by myself and just talking to my husband

M19

When the baby was born I just didn't feel right/I didn't feel myself

... my husband had to take me to the doctor's because I knew something wasn't right

M20

... so much pressure seemed to be on me [after my second]. I got to a breaking point where I just I can't do this anymore

I know my husband before me came to the conclusion/was telling me/"there's something wrong/there's something wrong"/but I was like/"no"

M21

...during the first year [of child's life]/I didn't know it was depression ...I thought I was crazy/I thought there's something wrong with me mentally

I didn't show it [depression] in from of him .../he thought it was just the baby blues ... he/he did notice that I was/there was something wrong with me ... like he didn't have anything like that in his family

M23

... I was so sick right after she was born. I was so depressed

... it came to a point that I said to my husband,/"I have to be serious"/I told him/"I really get depressed and I have fear with it"

M24

Throughout the pregnancy I had never felt better in my whole life/one week after the baby was born I was sinking/I was terrified to be left alone with [the baby]

I told my husband/"don't leave me alone/I'm afraid"/his thinking was/"you are just afraid/you got to get use to [the baby]"

M25

... first two weeks of the birth of each of my two children I had moods/couldn't sleep/tired no matter what and bad nerves/I was hospitalized the second time

... after I came home from hospital [psychiatric hospitalization] I was so so anxious my husband had to take care of me and the kids

M27

... for one year after [first child's name] was born I felt like I was going crazy ... I totally changed ... I didn't feel like I was me anymore.

... my my husband thought it was post/we both thought it was postpartum depression/thought it was emotion

Montgomery et al. BMC Nursing 2009 8:8   doi:10.1186/1472-6955-8-8