UIOK 29: Putting on a front with Megha Jolly

When your baby is born you can’t help but love it right? Turns out this isn’t always the case. Most people have heard of the post baby blues, but postnatal depression can affect up to 1 in 7 women after childbirth. Unlike the baby blues this isn’t something that goes away on its own relatively quickly. It can last for many weeks or months.  Postnatal depression can affect any woman—women with easy pregnancies or problem pregnancies, first-time mothers and mothers with one or more children, women who are married and women who are not, and regardless of income, age, race or ethnicity, culture or education.

Today’s guest is Megha Jolly who I’d like to thank for reaching out to me to chat about this topic. Megha shares her own journey with postnatal depression and is pretty vulnerable. Megha opens up about this topic that no one seems to speak about. For such a common problem you think that there would be a lot more conversation about this. I don’t know what causes the lack of discussion, perhaps it could be the stories we tell ourselves about what others will think if we admit having a problem, perhaps we think that if we deny it then it’ll all just go away, perhaps it is something completely different. I do know that it is a topic we need to talk about and reduce some of the stigma around it. Thanks Megha for making me a little uncomfortable with this conversation. If this is something you or someone you know is struggling with then one of the best things you can do is to talk about it. After having this chat I’ve done a bit of a google search and found some resources you can go to if you want more information and included them in the notes for the show.

Help get this conversation going and share Megha’s story out, hopefully it can help someone you love.

Before we start I just want to take a second to mention all those people who have been affected by the earthquakes in New Zealand in the day or so. My thoughts are with you, I hope you’re healthy and safe. Feel free to reach out if I can help in any way.

Thanks for getting uncomfortable with me and Megha today.

http://www.pnd.org.nz/

https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/a-z/resource/26/postnatal-depression

http://www.mothersmatter.co.nz/

Guest: Megha Jolly

Host: Chris Desmond

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