Postpartum psychosis affects up to two women in every 1,000 who give birth. Psychiatrists say Ireland is in dire need of a mother and baby unit with specialised care
‘When I finally got out of hospital, it took me months to build up a bond with her’: Psychiatrists say Ireland is in dire need of a designated mother and baby unit for women
In the week after she gave birth, Helena knew something wasn’t right. It had been a traumatic delivery. In the weeks afterwards, she felt overwhelmed and suffered panic attacks – something she says others largely brushed off as the “baby blues”, compounded by the sleep deprivation associated with new motherhood.
“The message I got was basically, ‘welcome to motherhood, this is what it’s like, you’re just tired’. But I knew I wasn’t myself, I just couldn’t put it into words,” she says. “I was very suspicious of things and having very strange thoughts – I just knew that there was something very wrong with me.”