The Beauty of Motherhood

Navya is a single mother of a beautiful girl. Today,  She shares her story of how she overcame Prenatal depression.

"I got pregnant at age 18 while I was studying in the university. When I saw the two pink lines, I immediately felt terrified. I was too young to be a mother. I was confused on what next to do. Telling my family was out of the option, because my mum would have my head. I didn't know these thoughts would fester into something serious. Throughout the first trimester, I felt guilt. I thought of how I'd embarrassed my parents and how they might never forgive me. As time went by, pressure piled up and I started to get depressed and anxious. I didn't have enough money for antenatal and I still had not told my parents. I kept worrying about the condition the baby would be brought into. Everything made me sad and it became difficult to navigate through the day . On the sixth month, I started having suicidal thoughts. I kept thinking that ending it would solve all my problems. I took an overdose of ibuprofen one night. Immediately I did, the consciousness of what I had done struck me and I rushed down to the hospital begging for the doctors to save my child's life. I explained what I did and after I was assured nothing was wrong with my child, I was placed on antidepressants. The antidepressants helped stabilize the chemicals in my brain. It really helped me put things into perspective. I stopped feeling guilt and even gathered the courage to tell my parents before the birth of my child.  Before then, I didn't know anything about prenatal depression and how it affects women. I hope women recognize the symptoms and seek help for it on time.