Myriam
Age at interview: 32
Myriam was 32 years old at the time of the interview and lives with her two small children (aged 3 yrs and 3 months) and her partner. Her first pregnancy went really well, and she did not have any problems except that she experienced insomnia. After returning to work, when her first born was 10 months old, the sleeping issues became more and more serious. She had moments when she would start crying for no reason and experienced small panic attacks. The medication she was prescribed really helped her to sleep much better. When she became pregnant again, she adjusted her tasks at work but started feeling more anxious and tired. She sought help from her healthcare team who recommended that she reduce her medication dose gradually while pregnant, and she was also put on medical leave for the duration of her pregnancy. Immediately after her delivery she increased the dose again. For the first weeks after the delivery everything went well, and she received great support from her father who is a nurse like Myriam. However, a few weeks later she started having ‘morbid obsessions’, including thoughts about unpleasant things that she could do to her baby that she knew she would never do in reality. She now feels much better due, in part, to changes in her medication and the work she has done together with a psychologist.