Overview

• Britta Scheufens recounts crashing into despair after leaving the hospital, describing constant tears, sleeplessness and inability to care for her baby, and says she now supports other affected women.
• Sabine Surholt of the self-help group Schatten & Licht estimates postnatal depression at 10–15% of mothers in Germany and warns that many cases are missed.
• She distinguishes brief baby blues in the first 10–14 days from depression signaled by persistent guilt, feelings of inadequacy, sleep and appetite changes, intrusive thoughts or panic attacks.
• Contributing factors cited include hormonal shifts, sleep deprivation, difficult pregnancies or births, caring for a persistently crying infant, and social pressure from idealized portrayals of motherhood on social media.
• Surholt urges early help via self-help networks and counseling, points to routine EPDS screening used in England, notes that therapy and suitable medications can aid recovery, and says improvement often occurs within three to six months.