Beyond the Baby Blues

Anxiety and Depression During and After Pregnancy

By (author) Rebecca Fox Starr With Amy Wenzel

Publication date:

22 December 2017

Length of book:

160 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442273900

Most people have heard of post-partum depression. What many people do not know is that anxiety and depression can be experienced during pregnancy, as well, and the impact can be both debilitating and devastating. This book is a unique combination of one woman’s story of her struggle with perinatal distress and actionable advice from a professional in the field. Rebecca Fox Starr shares her personal story of marriage, motherhood, prenatal anxiety and depression, severe postpartum anxiety and depression, recovery process and hope for the future. Woven throughout the narrative, Dr. Amy Wenzel, a specialist in the field of Perinatal Mood Disorders, provides readers with clinical information and advice, addressing risk factors, warning signs, definitions and recovery options. Stories from other women who experienced prenatal anxiety or depression are included as well. No longer do women have to suffer in silence, question their symptoms, or try to hide their feelings. Here, readers will see themselves in the narrative and understand that the devastating effects of prenatal and post-partum depression can be confirmed, treated, and managed, giving them hope for a brighter future.

A Happy Story
Chapter 1. First Comes Love: A Pregnant Paws and Other Crazy tales
A Hard Story
Chapter 2: Professional Perspective on Prenatal Distress
Chapter 3: Uncomfortably Numb:
The beginning of My Prenatal Distress
Chapter 4: “I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew to fear it”:
My Prenatal Anxiety and Depression
Chapter 5: Violated Expectations of Magic:
Dr. Amy Wenzel’s Clinical Experience with Prenatal Distress
Chapter 6: “I see the light going out in your eyes.”
The beginning of My Postpartum Depression
Chapter 7: A bicycle built for two (if that bicycle was actually an ER suite):
My Severe Postpartum Depression
A Hopeful Story
Chapter 8: Support as a Key to Recovery
Chapter 9: Together, Ever After
Chapter 10: Hope

Women who struggle with anxiety and depression during and after pregnancy will feel reassured and no longer alone because of mommy-blogger Starr’s brutally honest account of her own mental health battle. She seemed to live a storybook life with loving husband Kenny and daughter Annabelle. But while pregnant with her son, she started down a dark path, and after he was born, negative thoughts wove their way through her brain 'like poison.' She ended up in treatment for anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and an unspecified feeding disorder that left her clinically malnourished. She tried to hide the cuts she inflicted on her arms. She was a suicide risk. 'Do you know what is worse than feeling deep depression?' she writes. 'Feeling deep depression when the world tells you that you are supposed to be happier than ever.' Starr includes insights from Dr. Amy Wenzel, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Perinatal Psychology (2016), and identity-concealed patient studies. As Starr passionately argues, mental health for moms matters. The less anxious and distressed a pregnant woman and new mother is, the better for everyone.