It’s Perinatal Mental Health Week, and what better time to share the first excerpt from our book – Life After Birth – which is being released in January with @hardiegrantbooks 💛 Studies show that one in four mothers will experience high levels of depressive symptoms in the first three years after giving birth, with postpartum depression most commonly being diagnosed when the firstborn child is four years old. These statistics are alarming and bring awareness to the ongoing needs of mothers, who need to be assessed and supported long after the current routine six-week or six-month check-in with general practitioners. Why? Because the undertaking of parenthood is no easy feat. Without doubt, becoming a parent can be the most fulfilling, positively life altering, beautiful experience in the world, but it is also a huge, all-encompassing undertaking of the mind, body and soul. For some, the nights will be long, the days will be boring and exhaustion will make you question your sanity, but the intense love for your child and being in their presence every day will make it worthwhile. For others, it will be the hardest thing you have ever done and motherhood will feel like it has swallowed you whole, triggering thoughts of running away for a night or three (or forever). There is no right or wrong way to feel; motherhood is an experience so individual that no one will ever truly know how deep and dark your thoughts can go at 3 am with a baby glued to your chest. But there is a huge amount of information to support and guide you through the kaleidoscope of emotions and moods. You are never alone and every mood disorder we mention in the following slides is both temporary and treatable. Sharing your feelings with people you trust and seeking support from health professionals takes courage, but it is the first step in getting the help you so greatly deserve. 📸 of @my.scrub.life by @jessica_prescott_ 💛💛💛 #perinatalmentalhealth #pmhweek2022 #pmhw #mentalhealth #postpartum #motherhood #lifeafterbirthbook