Genna

Age at interview: 31

Genna is a 31-year-old woman who lives in a large city with her partner and daughter who was one year old at the time of interview. Prior to her pregnancy she had experienced periodic anxiety and, on one occasion, a panic attack but otherwise had no history of mental illness.

After giving birth, Genna found herself unable to sleep and increasingly anxious. She also became fixated on certain ‘themes’ or unusual ways of seeing the world around her. At first, she likened herself to a mother bear tending her cub in their den and this way of thinking felt quite idyllic and connected to nature. In addition, although she had never been a religious person, Genna began to feel a heightened sense of spirituality around the postpartum experience. Eventually, however, the themes began to take a darker turn. Genna began seeing an intricate web of connections between ordinary things and creating elaborate plans and schemes. She also began to have grandiose ideas and to experience paranoia. When Genna became convinced that the milk she was feeding her daughter was poisoned, her partner contacted their midwife who suggested that they go to the emergency department. Genna was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis and was prescribed antipsychotic medication as well as medication to help her sleep.

While the medication helped with the insomnia and the hallucinations, at about 3 months postpartum Genna began to experience depression. She was sleeping 12-14 hours a day, struggled to get out of bed and felt completely disengaged from any kind of activity or social interaction. She was also sleeping so heavily that she was unable to wake up at night to feed her daughter. Thinking that the new medication was causing the depression, and unable to gain immediate access to her psychiatrist, Genna began to wean herself off the drugs which led to a return of her psychotic symptoms. Weeks later, her psychiatrist recommended increasing her medication. Eventually, Genna’s depression lifted but extreme anxiety followed making it difficult to cope with everyday tasks. Support from a psychologist helped her work through the anxiety and learn to reframe her thoughts so that she was less judgmental with herself.

Because Genna was too unwell to be the primary care provider for her child for the first 2 or 3 months postpartum, her partner took on that role with help from other family members. He was given compassionate leave from his job to take care of her and their daughter. Genna acknowledged the associated stress and impact on her partner and other family members. Ultimately, however, she felt the experience had fostered a greater sense of appreciation of him. Genna’s illness also had a major impact on their finances, reducing their income by half while her partner was on compassionate leave. They were fortunate to have occupational health benefits that covered costs such as psychological support. Without these benefits and their savings, the impacts on their family could have been even more serious.

While Genna received the medical intervention she needed, she felt that her symptoms might have been picked up on sooner. Although generally happy with her midwifery care, Genna felt that the midwife was not as aware of the range of possible symptoms of postpartum psychosis as she might have been and this delayed diagnosis and treatment. She also pointed out that while substantial healthcare resources are put into detecting physical health conditions in unborn children, the same financial investments are not made into perinatal mental health.

 

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