This book shares a personal story about the powerful implication of the stigmas associated with an illness that affects millions of postpartum women. With a candid voice, Brandy Behne discloses to the reader her private thoughts about her journey through pregnancy and postpartum depression.Testimonials"This is one extraordinary woman's honest and thoughtful account of her sometimes terrifying journey to motherhood ... The telling of her story is an attempt to reach out to those mothers, to assure them that they are not alone and with help they too will be well again!"-Margi Clifford, LPC, RYTThe Children's Hospital at ProvidencePostpartum Support International"This book is a must read to help people better understand that postpartum depression is real ... I am thankful that God molded Brandy's heart and strengthened it with courage ... to write this book, to help thousands who suffer in silence."-Rebecca M. Shaw, Ph.D.Tapestry of Life Child and Family Counseling

Most people have heard of post-partum depression. What many people do not know is that anxiety and depression can be experienced during pregnancy, as well, and the impact can be both debilitating and devastating. This book is a unique combination of one woman’s story of her struggle with perinatal distress and actionable advice from a professional in the field. Rebecca Fox Starr shares her personal story of marriage, motherhood, prenatal anxiety and depression, severe postpartum anxiety and depression, recovery process and hope for the future. Woven throughout the narrative, Dr. Amy Wenzel, a specialist in the field of Perinatal Mood Disorders, provides readers with clinical information and advice, addressing risk factors, warning signs, definitions and recovery options. Stories from other women who experienced prenatal anxiety or depression are included as well. No longer do women have to suffer in silence, question their symptoms, or try to hide their feelings. Here, readers will see themselves in the narrative and understand that the devastating effects of prenatal and post-partum depression can be confirmed, treated, and managed, giving them hope for a brighter future.

A little girl expresses curiosity and excitement for the coming birth of her baby sister while her parents tenderly reassure her of love's ability to expand with their growing family in this ode to motherhood and celebration of sibling love. Full color.

When I became pregnant, I read everything in the baby section. It felt like I was wearing rose-colored glasses. I wanted an honest, raw sense of what I was in for, and I never got that. Thank goodness my mother, friends, and sisters werenat afraid to tell it like it was. Yes, labor hurts. Yes, life was going to change dramaticallya]forever. Having my son was the most incredible act in the world. I love him more than life itself. I wanted to share my story so soon-to-be moms out there would know theyare not alone. Just because youare not aglowinga doesnat mean youare abnormal. Just because pregnancy wasnat all that you thought it would be doesnat mean as a mom you wonat prosper. This is my story about becoming a mom. It is probably a lot like yours.

Myriam Szejer talks to newborns. For over a decade she has worked in the maternity ward of a hospital outside Paris. Called in by hospital staff when a baby or its parents are suffering, Szejer uses the psychoanalytic techniques of careful listening and talking to reach failure-to-thrive and other suffering newborns and reverse their conditions. Talking to Babies is the story of her important work. Having psychologists or psychiatrists available to new mothers on maternity wards is not unusual. But having a psychoanalyst available who also talks to newborns is completely revolutionary. Szejer has pioneered her unique approach to treating struggling infants through years of study and apprenticeship. And in Talking to Babies she describes in thoughtful and convincing detail the theory of her practice and how her interventions work, illustrating with the moving stories of the numerous infants she has helped. In the very first days of a baby's life, the newborn, still struggling between birth and its entry into our world, already needs words. By "needing words," Szejer means that infants need to be talked to about the specific situations into which they are born. They need to hear about their mothers, fathers, siblings, and caretakers, but they also need to hear about problematic aspects of their histories, such as the death of a twin sibling or the death of a baby before them. These words must be spoken to the baby in the presence of his or her mother and father if at all possible. Such speech helps everyone-newborn and parents-to find their places in the altered world created by the birth. When such words are not present, physical symptoms and illness may emerge. Talking to Babies is the first book to show how the "talking cure" can help infants and their parents. Post-partum depression in mothers, failure-to-thrive in babies-these problems might be approached quite differently if maternity wards incorporated some of Szejer's practices. High-tech interventions are all too common in American maternity wards; Talking to Babies offers a more humane route for restoring health. Preface: "Sometimes, as I am leaving the hospital late at night, I stop to look in on a patient who has recently given birth. And often, as I open the door, I catch a special moment: the new mother leaning over the crib, or more often face to face with the newborn on her lap, looking intently at him and murmuring motherly words . . . In a maternity ward, however, everything is not always so rosy. Birth is sometimes accompanied by suffering, a suffering too rarely perceived in our Western societies . . . When I met Myriam Szejer, an unknown field opened to me: the reality of the newborn's preverbal behavior. Szejer dares psychoanalyze newborns, dares talk to them, dares intervene before the symptom has taken root, particularly in dangerous situations . . . Her approach ought to become known to all who make perinatal medicine their career. Her approach is innovative. What woman has not been shaken to her very being by becoming a mother; what man has not trembled at becoming a father? Babies feel that profound apprehensiveness. They need to be listened to, which is a form of respect." --from the Preface by René Frydman, M.D.

Why can’t I lose the extra weight? Why am I shedding like my pet golden retriever? I’m just too tired to have sex— and it hurts. What should I do? How can I tell the difference between the “baby blues” and a real depression? Why am I having so many fights with my husband? At last your baby has arrived, and you’re experiencing all the joys that come with being a new mom. But you may not have bargained on acne and enlarged feet, not to mention constipation, vaginal pain, mood swings, or perhaps one of the more serious conditions that pregnancy can trigger. So what can you do to deal with all these unexpected challenges? In this compassionate, comprehensive guide, Dr. Jennifer Wider, a physician as well as the mother of two small children, delivers up-to-date medical information, candid answers to a host of questions, and expert advice on a range of postpartum issues, including: Sex and intimacy after pregnancy—physical and mental roadblocks •Marital stresses and strains •How to safely lose weight and exercise •Cracked nipples and other breast-feeding concerns •When the baby blues are more than just a phase •Coping with thyroid problems, anemia, diabetes, urinary incontinence, and other conditions that can show up during or after pregnancy From redefining yourself to taking care of yourself while caring for your baby, The New Mom’s Survival Guide offers such a wealth of practical help that new moms will turn to it again and again.

Two Worlds. Two Women. One Love. In 1975, an American girl named Genevieve loses her mother when a plane full of orphans crashes in war-ravaged Vietnam. Miles away in the countryside, seven-year-old Lan, a Vietnamese girl, is forced out of her family home by her own brother who has joined the Viet Cong. Worlds apart, these two girls come into womanhood struggling to recover a sense of family–until their journeys suddenly converge. Lan has grown up in the harsh realities of post-war Vietnam, but she yearns for a better life for her children. Meanwhile, Genevieve marries and, faced with infertility, decides to adopt a child from the country her own mother loved so deeply. But the uncertainty and risk of international adoption threatens to overwhelm both women before their hearts and their families can be healed. Beyond the Blue is the story of enormous losses, unthinkable choices, and the transforming power of God's love for the children of the world.