Having another child after PP

[Dleiva0001]

Hello I am 23 years old, I live in the United States and my baby girl is 14 months. I had pp after I had her. I am wanting to get pregnant again can you all share your experiences with PP did you have more children after an episode?

[Chick44nzrn]

Hello ! After awful PPP I went on to have 3 more gorgeous babies ; after the second I had PND but recovered and I am so happy to have made that decision ! My children are wonderful friends now and I’m the happiest grandma now of 10 small grandchildren! . Whatever you decide best of luck . You are stronger than you know!!

Love

Denise

[Jenny_at_APP Partner]

Hello Dleiva0001

Welcome to the forum

I had PP after my first son was born in 2012. I went on to have another son in 2016 without a recurrence of PP. I was told the risk was around 50%.

I had good support and put plans in place to try and reduce the risk of getting ill again - I took a low dose of medication for 6 months after the birth, bottle fed and made sure I got lots of rest - but may have just been lucky. I think knowing the risk and being prepared should PP strike again made it a very different experience (compared to having PP completely out of the blue and having no idea what was going on).

You’ll be able to find plenty of information on here about planning for a second child, I found reading other’s experiences really helpful. There’s also a guide for planning pregnancy when at high risk of PP on the APP website , which was put together by experts, health professionals and women with experience - app-network.org/what-is-pp/...

I hope this helps. It’s clearly a very personal decision, and you’ll make the one that’s right for you. The risk of a recurrence is high, but you know the risk is there which means you can prepare - with good support and plans in place, hopefully if PP did strike again it would be picked up and treated quickly.

Wishing you all the best!

Jenny x

[Lilybeth Volunteer]

Hi Dleiva0001

Congratulations on your recovery from such a traumatic illness I had my first PP many years ago and it was such a big decision to have a second child, with little advice available in those days. Thankfully six years later our second child was born and although I had PP a second time I did fully recover.

Just to add to the good advice and links, as you are in the United States, I wonder if you have contacted Postpartum Support International at postpartum.net although perhaps this is how you found our forum as APP is mentioned?. Depending on where you live in the United States there might be local support near you but we are all here for you too across the pond There are also mums from the United States who have posted on the forum, so hopefully they might also reply.

Take good care of yourself.

[Lilybeth Volunteer]

Hi ..... just another thought. If you type 'second pregnancy' into the search box at the top right of this page, then click the filter box 'my communities' you will find shared experiences of second pregnancies and care plans. Hope this is helpful. Best wishes x