Christine

Age at interview: 37

Christine is 37 years old and lives with her husband and her 3-year-old son at the time of interview. By the end of her pregnancy, Christine had become anxious about having a baby. She wondered if she was doing the right thing and was worried about the responsibilities and upcoming changes. After her son was born, she had to stay a few days in the hospital, and with everything going on, she didn’t have much time to think about her emotions. However, when back at home, she felt tired, anxious, and constantly sad. For her, it was a rather violent shift from being very independent to being a new mom with a baby who always needed her – like she had lost control of her life. Despite lots of help from her husband, mom, and mother-in-law, her feelings didn’t change. She was sleeping a lot and being alone with the baby made her nervous. Pumping breast milk took much of her energy and time. She remembers when her baby was two weeks old, she would only pump and stay in bed all day, often with her mom’s help to care for the baby. One day Christine overheard her mom telling a friend how worried she was about her; she realized that something wasn’t okay with her. So, she agreed that her mom would call her family doctor, who made an appointment for Christine the next day. 

She had a good doctor that listened attentively and referred her to a maternal mental health clinic. After a month-long wait, the clinic cancelled her appointment and never rescheduled. Fortunately, by then she felt better and didn’t need the follow-up at that specialized clinic. 

After another consultation with her family doctor, she accepted her circumstances, helping her feel she had some control. She decided to stop pumping, with support from family and friends, and her husband started to do more feedings. It helped that Christine also decided to go back to sleeping in the same room with her husband and manage the nights together. Sleep-training the baby was also a tremendous help.  

By the time her son was six months old, she felt better about everything. Christine thinks it is vital for people in similar circumstances to know that things do get better over time. 

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More content

• Advice for Policymakers – Christine
  Christine says that the system is under-resourced when one staff member's illness can shut down a whole service.
• Seeking and Finding Reliable Information – Christine
  Christine searched online to understand what was normal or not for postpartum depression as she wanted to understand her symptoms.
• Gaps in Health Care System – Christine
  Christine advocates for more maternal health care after delivery.
• Work, Finances and Mental Health – Christine
  Despite good working conditions, Christine still struggled when the baby was born.
• Support from Family and Friends – Christine
  When Christine finally saw how worried her mom was about her, she realized that she was not okay.
• Managing Personal Challenges with Sleeping and Eating – Christine (clip 2)
  Even though her family tried to give Christine time to sleep, she still could not fall asleep and would often just lay down and cry.
• Managing Personal Challenges with Sleeping and Eating – Christine
  Christine didn't feel any drive to see her newborn and just wanted to lay in bed and let her husband take over the baby's care.
• Managing New Routines – Christine
  Christine wants people to know that you will adjust to a new normal and things do get easier.
• Bonding – Christine
  Christine couldn't believe that she didn't feel a bond with her newborn and wondered what was wrong with her.
• Coping with Feeding – Christine (clip 2)
  At her birthday party, Christine started to cry while telling her friends she wanted to stop breastfeeding but was grateful for their supportive reactions.