For Erin1, there is a preconceived idea that women with postpartum depression harm their babies.
Transcript
But yes, it’s definitely like this secret, because we want everything to do with having a baby, especially a planned, longed for baby, to be happy. And that’s not always – I mean, both my children were – were planned and longed for and I love more than life itself. You know, and the other thing that people get scared about is they think there’s this idea that women who have post-partum depression kill their babies. And that’s not the case. And this is something that a social worker made very clear that when that happens, it’s usually because the woman is psychotic, completely lost. You know, it’s not – it’s the – it’s the very, very, very, very, very, very minority on the very severest side of psychosis that unfortunately these terrible things happen. Because you feel depressed or because you feel anxious doesn’t mean that you’re going to hurt your baby. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to kill your baby. It doesn’t mean that you’re not going to be a good mom.
And yes, sometimes women have that fear if they come forward and they say, “I’m having a problem,” their baby will get taken away from them. Like I said, that – unfortunately, even in the very bad and scary cases, that doesn’t happen. It’s not going to happen in your case. And it – like I said, it doesn’t mean that you don’t love your baby. Absolutely not.
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