How did you get your diagnosis?

[Bindy7]

Just wondering how you all got your diagnosis? I am in the US where it tends to be missed a lot and treatment is hard to come by. I wonder how people came to find out that they were suffering from PPP

[Lilybeth Volunteer]

Hello Bindy7

Good to hear from you. It's a shame PP is missed and treatment is hard to come by in the US. We are very fortunate in the UK and here to share our experiences.

I'm sure you've read that I had PP twice many years ago. It wasn't until my sons were in their late teens that I saw an article in the local press by Prof Jones at APP asking mums to contact the team for research purposes. I then had the pleasure to meet Prof Jones and some of the team and after sight of my medical notes he confirmed I had PP all those years ago. As you can imagine, this was such a relief to me as the shame I had felt for years lifted and I felt so much better about myself.

I have since had sight of my notes following my sons' births and hardly recognised the young woman described (only 23 with my first PP and my second 6 years later). I felt very sorry for her, locked away in mental institutions without her babies, rambling on to doctors and never getting to the point with different stories. However, although only in general psychiatric care for a long time, I did fully recover from the trauma of PP.

Thankfully mental health is coming out of the shadows and hopefully in time mums with PP in the US will be treated appropriately.

Take care.

[haroldmag in reply to Lilybeth]

I am a husband whose partner had this about 26 years ago. In England.

I believe that it was only picked up by an alert Midwife in her role as Health Visitor about six weeks after the birth. But I was told nothing despite asking.