Mirian

Age at interview: 38

At the time of the interview, Mirian was 38 years old and lived with her husband and two children, aged 4 years and 18 months old. The delivery of her first child was different than planned. As an immigrant, she had no family nearby, but when her mom came to help for a month, she had a hard time adapting to the Canadian winter and they fought frequently. Breastfeeding was difficult and painful, and Mirian felt despondent, often crying and sad. 

She thought her feelings were related to postpartum depression so at the 6-week postpartum consultation, she explained her feelings to the doctor who didn’t prescribe any medication but recommended seeing a psychologist. However, she didn’t have the time or energy to search for one. 

Mirian’s mom went back to their home country, and her mother-in-law came for a more extended period, which made her happy because she made her laugh, was helpful, and they didn’t argue – Mirian also had time to exercise more, and that helped her low mood. Unfortunately, her mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly nine days after she arrived. This event, with all the visitors and funeral, was a very stressful time and didn’t allow Mirian to be alone with the baby very much or to establish a routine. 

When Spring arrived, she could go out more, make friends, and participate in many activities, which helped her to feel better. The baby eventually went to daycare, so Mirian was able to finish her studies and then went back to working full-time; she felt much better.  

She got pregnant for a second time and did some psychotherapy in the third trimester to be prepared in case she had a difficult birth like the first time and if she developed the same symptoms. Many services were closed because of the COVID pandemic, and she didn’t have access to the same activities she had with her first child because she moved to a different place. Mirian started to feel the same sadness as before, so she asked her doctor for medication, but it wasn’t prescribed again. She thinks it was good that at least she was already doing psychotherapy. She did find the things that helped her cope, including going for walks, breathing fresh air, going to different places, sometimes with the baby or older son, sometimes by herself, journaling, reading, and art therapy. 

 

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