Relieving postnatal pain

Lesley Pitt knows the agony of dealing with postnatal psychosis.

The New Plymouth mother-of-two battled the illness eight years ago after the birth of her first child.

Ms Pitt says she knew something was not right when she begun jumping up and down on the bed.

"I knew myself, before I was even diagnosed, but I hid it," the Witt social work tutor explains.

"I could hide the tears really well."

But despite her best efforts to keep her psychosis under wraps, it was soon discovered and her newborn baby was discharged from the postnatal ward while she remained there for two weeks receiving treatment."It is quite frightening but I got the right treatment and quickly," Ms Pitt says.

"It is degrading and humiliating and it is a pain that a lot of women try to hide."

It is this experience that has spurred her into helping other Taranaki women with postnatal depression.

Ms Pitt along with her colleague Sally Phillips, a maternal mental health social worker, worked on a research project on Taranaki women with postnatal depression.

The purpose of the research was to explore what helps women recover from postnatal distress.

"We wanted to know what made a difference in their recovery and what didn't," Ms Pitt says.

And while Ms Pitt says she can freely talk about her experience with mental illness she found others are not as willing.

Of the 183 questionnaires the pair sent out they received only 25 replies.

"We had a really poor response. A lot of people had moved on emotionally."

But the people who did respond were open and honest about their experiences, Ms Pitt says.

"Women often hide the fact they had postnatal depression because of the stigma attached or because of a lack of understanding.

"One of my sisters didn't talk to me for months because she just couldn't cope with it and didn't know what to do," she says.

Ms Phillips and Ms Pitt have presented their findings to three different groups from various community sectors.

The results indicated although women still feel judged for having postnatal depression the best help they can receive is from professionals and support from family.

They plan to publish their research and results in the hopes of helping women, like Ms Pitt, who suffer from the illness.

- © Fairfax NZ News