Leah

Age at interview: 37

Leah is 37 years old, married and lives with her two boys (3.5 years old and 13 months) at the time of her interview. Her husband worked for the navy and was deployed a few months after each of her babies were born.

She had two good pregnancies and deliveries with no major issues besides the usual aches and pains. After her first child was born, she was determined not to give up on breastfeeding despite difficulties doing so; switching to formula was not an option for her. The weekly monitoring visits from a nurse to check the baby’s weight gain along with encouragements to continue to breastfeed and pump supplementary milk when she encountered challenges with breastfeeding became very stressful for her. The proposed feeding and pumping schedule resulted in sleep deprivation as she found that she had only 10 minutes every three hours for herself. She ignored her feelings of postpartum depression because she was so busy while at the same time, she was preparing for her husband’s deployment. In hindsight, she would never put herself through such a period again. Before the second baby was born, she communicated clearly to those around her that the choice for breastfeeding was going to be her call and that they would figure things out with formula if that was necessary. This time, however, breastfeeding went well from day one. Leah felt a huge relief, and with breastfeeding going so well, she thought she would escape the whole postpartum depression thing. Unfortunately, this time it hit her harder than it did the first time, and at its worst around Christmastime when her second baby was about 3 months old. She found she could barely get out of bed. This time she felt anger and rage, especially towards her husband while they were preparing for his second upcoming deployment.

The services they reached out to for urgent help didn’t have much to offer as she was not considering suicide or hurting the baby. As a last option, the couple visited the family doctor again despite Leah’s hesitations as she felt she had not been taken seriously in previous visits. The doctor did prescribe medication this time which made a significant difference. Leah was able to continue breastfeeding while taking the medication, and she started to feel like she could actually get through the day. She now strongly believes that the most important thing is for the baby to have a sane mother, more than the need for breast milk. She expects to remain on medication for some time but feels she will be okay. 

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More content

• Advice for Health Care Providers – Leah (clip 2)
  Leah advises paying more attention to the health of mom and baby.
• Advice for Health Care Providers – Leah
  Leah says improved consistency of information and better teamwork means less stress for women.
• Advice for Policymakers – Leah
  Leah says that more resources and funds are needed for mental health.
• Seeking Help and Getting Diagnosis – Leah
  Leah's husband called the mental crises helpline to help find resources before his military deployment.
• Support from Family and Friends – Leah (clip 2)
  Leah was disappointed with the limited support she received from the military service when her husband was deployed.
• Support from Family and Friends – Leah
  Leah shared her struggle with mental health only after she was feeling better.
• Bonding – Leah
  The thought of getting out of bed to care for the baby felt overwhelming for Leah.
• Coping with Feeding – Leah (clip 2)
  Leah's doctor helped her feel less guilty about having to supplement while breastfeeding.
• Coping with Feeding – Leah
  Looking back, Leah feels like she should have stopped breastfeeding earlier, but she was hard on herself.