According to Sage journals, Postpartum depression (PPD) affects up to 34.6% of mothers. Recent research has identified several psychosocial and biological risk factors for PPD. The negative short-term and long-term effects on child development are well-established. PPD is under recognized and under treated. 

According to WHO The estimated prevalence of PostPartum Depression (PPD) PPD in Africa is 18.4%. However, various countries have reported higher rates such as Uganda (43.0%) and Cameroun (23.4%) as compared to Ethiopia (13.1%), Ghana (3.8%) and Morocco (11.6%).  

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a mental health disorder that affects about 10-15% of mothers worldwide each year. It can occur immediately after childbirth or up to six weeks later and may last for over a year. PPD is characterized by symptoms such as tearfulness, feelings of hopelessness, emotional instability, guilt, sleep problems, and loss of appetite. Despite the joy and excitement that the birth of a baby can bring, it can also be emotionally draining, stressful, and overwhelming, leading to a depressed mood that can negatively impact a woman's quality of life, social functioning, and economic productivity. 

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious mental health condition that can have a significant impact on mothers. It can also have long-term consequences on the cognitive and emotional development of most children whose mothers are affected. While PPD can progress into major depression and carries a great risk of ill health and death, it is often underdiagnosed and underrated in many countries. It has been reported that the prevalence of PPD is three times higher in developing countries compared to developed countries, with various risk factors contributing to the high burden of the illness. 

As a Postpartum Depression survivor, I discovered that most times, this mental illness occurs as a result of a trauma reaction to either a certain chemical imbalance in the brain or a certain hormonal imbalance in the system. The lack of a well-regulated system thereof leads to dysregulation of the entire individual, whereby there is a spiralling down of the entire body system. I lost my baby at 37 weeks i.e. a few days prior to her time of delivery. 

The experience had me broken and shattered, I was numb and felt I needed to "get out"  of life. The torture of not having my baby in my arms after a full-term pregnancy, as well as dealing with the fact that my body needed to heal from delivering a stillbirth. I was devastated and spiralling down quickly into an abyss of dark self-loath and lack of self-esteem and self-worth. 

This degenerated into not having faith in God anymore; more spirituality was under siege, an attack of some sort, threatened by the illusions of loss, grief and emotional turmoil. 

I found solace in using my hands to build ART. The process of creating something out of raw material gave me a sense of meaning to life again. 

Fast forward to when I finally had a baby that survived, I still felt the same kind of low sense of self-worth and self-esteem with a lot of exhaustion, anger, irritability and fear of what life might bring my way. I had hot flashes and nightmares of danger to me and my newborn, insomnia, frustration, and just really craved me-time. 

Learning to regulate my emotions through Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) was what saved my life. 

So, in both instances, I needed to self-regulate, but in different forms. 

Here is why this cause is so important to us at The Wellness Hub Africa, helping Women Self regulate so they can be the better versions of themselves first for themselves, family, and economic growth and sustenance

So far from this research, we can see that "Having PostPartum Blues" is seen as a higher percentage when it comes to the predicators of PPD. The "Blues" is also known as emotional swings or dysregulation. Therefore it is safe to say, a more practical approach to the fulfilment of the healing journey from PPD are interventions that help the individual self regulate their entire system. 

Here is why we employ interventions such as Energy Medicine, Meditation, breathwork, visualisation, Emotions Freedom Techniques, and the like to help not just regulate the entire system but also stabilise and ground the mind, body, soul and spirit. 

Further Work and research needs to be done as well as more trained hands on these interventions need to be deployed as quickly as possible as this is a rising pandemic eating deep into our society at large.

A lot of Africans shame and stigmatise mental illness not to speak of Depression in a woman after the loss of her child is termed as a "diabolic occurrence" or after the birth of her child is termed "laziness" 

WHO has studies showing that the effect of this shame and stigmatisation has caused many to suffer in silence not seeking professional counselling neither are their partners enlightened enough to help them through the difficult phase or season of dysregulation 

The reality is that Those who develop postpartum depression are at greater risk of developing major depression later on in life. When they display certain symptoms such as insomnia, loss of appetite, intense irritability and difficulty bonding with the baby, they are shamed and guilted. In contrast, the mother is simply going through a season of disruption and dysregulation in her system. The danger and risk factor in this is that if left untreated, the condition may last months or longer and could eventually degenerate to a life-threatening illness both to mother and child. 

Therefore, it is time to create awareness of this epidemic by challenging the stigmatisation and improving health-seeking behaviours.

It is unfortunate that postpartum depression often goes untreated because many women feel ashamed about seeking help. They worry about being labelled a "bad mother" if they admit to struggling with depression. It's important for society to recognize that seeking help for postpartum depression is a sign of strength, not weakness.(Saporito, Ryan & Teachman, 2011). Effective strategies to combat mental illness stigma include education, such as challenging the myths surrounding mental illness with factual information. Protest can also be effective, making moral appeals to stop stigmatization. Additionally, contact is a useful strategy, creating equal interactions between the public and individuals with mental illness.Corrigan et al., 2003; Griffiths et al., 2014) 

More research is being done by Wellness Hub Africa on dealing with this mental disability known as Postpartum Depression.