By April Dembosky, KQED, Kaiser Health News
When Miriam McDonald decided she wanted to have another baby at age 44, her doctor told her she had a better chance of winning the lottery. So when she got pregnant right away, she and her husband were thrilled. But within three days of giving birth to their son, in September 2019, everything shifted.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, what did I do?’ I just brought this baby into this world and I can barely take care of myself right now,” she recalled. “I feel exhausted. I haven’t slept in three days. I haven’t really eaten in three days.”
As the weeks went by, her depression got worse. She felt sad, but also indifferent. She didn’t want to hold her baby, she didn’t want to change him. She says she felt no connection with him.
This confused her — she never felt anything like this after her first two kids — and she worried her mood might hurt her son. Untreated postpartum depression can affect babies’ and Kaiser Health News (KHN).
This story was produced by KHN (Kaiser Health News), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.
This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
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