So many people say this about having a perinatal mental health disorder… until it does happen to them. I include myself in this category because I never thought I would be one of the moms who suffered. I was very, very wrong. 1 in 5 moms will get a perinatal mental health disorder after having a baby; it is the number one complication of childbirth. Now that I can look back on my experience with postpartum OCD, so much of what I went through could have been prevented had I been educated on the different disorders. Sadly, I was not. I basically went into parenthood completely blind.

When I was pregnant with Caia, I just assumed having a baby would be a glamorous, empowering experience. That was not exactly how I felt once I had her, and I felt extremely disappointed in myself. I was supposed to love being a mom. During my prenatal appointments, I spent time preparing for childbirth, but that was it. I didn’t receive any education on the postpartum phase. Looking back, that is extremely dangerous for new parents. Every single parent should be educated on signs, symptoms, and what to look out for and what to do if your partner experiences a perinatal mood disorder.

Back to my prenatal appointments with Caia, I was not even told that I would be bleeding after birth. I mean I was not educated at ALL on anything postpartum. Truly, I assumed I would go home with my baby, and everything would be great. I didn’t even know there was anything other than postpartum depression or even what a perinatal mood disorder was at the time. A lack of education 100% contributed to how severe my postpartum OCD truly got. I really do get angry writing this, because I know my experience is similar to a lot of families in that they weren’t educated either.

EVERY. SINGLE. PARENT should be receiving extensive education on preparing for the postpartum phase of pregnancy. Education is key to preventing something similar that happened to me. I was able to prepare myself mentally for my second baby only because of what happened to me the first time, but what about all of those first-time parents? Many are going into parenthood blindly just as I had. Taking a baby home is NOT glamorous. I cannot stress this enough. There are sleepless nights, endless crying/screaming, feeding challenges, hormonal changes, and did I mention sleepless nights?! Every parent who says they are having a great time on social media is lying. Of course, there are good times, but parenting is hard. Please make sure to ask for education on perinatal mood disorders, so you don’t have to say, “I never thought it could happen to me.”