Overview

"""You're Doing a Great Job, Mama"" is meant to be an accessible, adult picture book aimed at new mothers. It is incredibly common for new mothers to experience the ""baby blues"" during the first few weeks postpartum, but many women struggle much longer emotionally and mentally. This may be due to a diagnosed perinatal mood disorder such as postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, postpartum psychosis, or birth trauma PTSD. Alternatively, mothers may simply feel overwhelmed by their new mental load as they navigate motherhood with a newborn. Lack of sleep, lack of support, high-needs infants, and hormonal fluctuations can make new mothers doubt their abilities and feel alone and depressed. This book aims to validate through imagery and text, the feelings of self-doubt that new mothers may experience, as well as to assure them that, no matter how badly they may feel about themselves in their new role of motherhood, their babies see them only through the lens of unconditional love."

Full Product Details

9780578342870

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Dr. Heather K. Gonzales is a passionate advocate for wrap-around Maternal Mental Healthcare (MMH) in the United States. After a traumatic experience of Postpartum Psychosis (sometimes abbreviated as PPP), Dr. Gonzales was terrified of having another child. As time passed, she and her husband made the decision to try once again to have a baby. Throughout her pregnancy, Dr. Gonzales worked closely with her medical team, which included a skilled psychiatrist and a trauma-informed OB. Her husband, parents, and close friends, armed with knowledge this time, were prepared to support Dr. Gonzales should she have another episode of PPP. Finally, and importantly, Dr. Gonzales and her psychiatrist determined psychotropic medications (i.e., a mood stabilizer, an atypical antipsychotic, and an antidepressant), that were as safe as possible for a developing infant in the womb, and she maintained compliance with her medication regime for her entire pregnancy. With wrap-around MMH, Dr. Gonzales, her medical team, and her family and friends prepared for the possibility of another episode, but hoped and prayed for a better postpartum outcome.Although Dr. Gonzales experienced significant PTSD and insomnia, leading to a mild manic episode, she was able to avoid a subsequent hospitalization and remain with her family. The Matrescence (the physical, emotional, hormonal and social transition to becoming a mother) for Dr. Gonzales was actually very validating and healing, as she was able to complete the stress response associated with her PTSD from her PPP episode and form a healthy bond with her newborn, Vida Itzel.Dr. Gonzales knows firsthand how relentless and emotionally devastating the early days of motherhood can be. There are multiple perinatal mood disorders beyond Postpartum Depression (PPD), which has been catapulted to the forefront of our attention due to a greater societal conversation. In addition to PPD, new mothers can experience Postpartum Anxiety (characterized by disturbing, intrusive thoughts, typically about the safety of one's infant), Postpartum OCD (often associated with PPA), Postpartum PTSD from a traumatic birth experience, and Postpartum Psychosis (PPP; characterized by enveloping delusions of a disturbing nature, and/or tactile, auditory, or visual hallucinations). From her two birth and postpartum experiences, Dr. Gonzales has learned that preparation and research regarding MMH prior to delivery, as well as immediate (within one to two weeks) evaluation of a new mother's mental health is crucial for a healthy transition to her new roles and responsibilities, as well as recovery from the very traumatic process of birthing and caring for an infant.Dr. Gonzales wrote this book to validate new mothers' feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, occasional or all-encompassing despair, and restlessness as they care for their infants and shoulder the mental load of motherhood. The black-and-white images and text are examples of thoughts that Dr. Gonzales had the first two years after having Shiloh. In contrast, the colored pages and images are what Dr. Gonzales imagines that an infant would tell their mother if they could express their feelings: unconditional and profound love.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available