2023-08-22 14:00:23
Major upheavals affect several dimensions of a woman’s life following childbirth. Through their diversity, they shape the landscape of this period called postpartum. If it is difficult to understand the singularity of this experience, identifying the phenomena at play and their origins can be a basis for supporting it well. Part 1
It is common in our culture to pamper the woman during her pregnancy and then dedicate these intentions to the baby when it is born. What’s more normal ? But this brutal transfer of attention, which confirms that it is not far from the Capitol to the Tarpeian rock, above all testifies toa narrow vision of motherhood, in which childbirth is seen as the outcome of a process. We protect the pregnant woman, then the baby. There is, however, a clue in the root of the word “mother” which indicates to whom this privilege belongs. Marveling at the new little being should not deprive the one who gave birth to him of the consideration she needs to mother.
Postpartum, how long?
One might believe, given the length of time it takes to care for your infant following childbirth and before returning to work, that the postpartum period only lasts a few weeks. IIt is necessary to uncorrelate the phenomena experienced during this stage of perinatal life and the ability to resume activities. If the Ministry of Health considers these few weeks sufficient – while other countries allow almost a year – this does not mean that the season of upheaval is ending. We hear several approaches to talking regarding it, forty days (the golden month), three months (the “fourth trimester of pregnancy” or matrescence), six months, a year… and up to three years. In reality, all these durations are correct, they correspond to postpartum stages.
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“We have always forced women into their role as mothers”, Dr Bernadette de Gasquet
Childbirth is only one stage of the perinatal period, followed by postpartum, intensely transformative and more intensive in care than the previous stage. Many women ultimately feel like it all starts there, when they thought they were finishing something. This lack of knowledge still leads us to consider only the first word in “maternity leave”, denying the ambivalence of the first months with a totally dependent newborn, in a body in remission, in the midst of an identity crisis, marital, parental, friendly transition… This social event where everyone feels they have a say can weigh down these new rhythms, this hectic physiology and these challenges, instead of supporting them.
At the same time, the means to support the postpartum period more often involve medication than dedicated staff. The first association of ideas linked to postpartum is baby blues, then depression, mostly treated with antidepressants and anxiolytics. However, several little-known approaches can consolidate this life transition. The image of postpartum is paradoxical in that it is sometimes underestimated, sometimes experienced in a rather dark way. This period not only gives birth to a child, but also to mother(s), father(s), brothers, sisters, grandparents, uncles, aunts, who discover their new identities through experiences. With better preparation and kindness, this journey can be wonderful. It is experienced differently depending on the culture, i.e. the way in which a society is organized around births, whereas, in principle, the physiological developments of motherhood are universal. It is interesting to compare this to the paradigm in which we perpetuate life in our culture, between hypermedicalization, rupture of the link and maintenance of the economy.
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No antidepressants during the end of pregnancy!
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