ABOUT POSTNATAL DEPRESSION

Where to seek professional help
You might start by talking with your local Child Health Nurse or a General Practitioner.

Child Health Nurse
In the first year of their baby’s life, new mothers have regular contact with Child Health Nurses, who have considerable experience of the range of emotional changes a woman undergoes after childbirth. A Child Health Nurse will offer practical advice on how you might best tackle your difficulties. If she suspects you have PND, she will probably suggest you see a GP, and may even recommend a local GP who has a particular interest in PND.

General Practitioner (GP)
You might also talk with a GP. Before you had your first child, you might have been seeing a different doctor each time you had a need. Once you have a child, though, you will find you need a GP more often than previously, and you will find it helpful to see the same GP each time. If you don’t have a regular GP, and are unsure who you might approach, your Child Health Nurse might recommend one. You might also ask women you know who live in your area to recommend a GP. It is important that you see a GP you like and feel comfortable with, one who has time to talk with you. If you don’t feel comfortable with or confident of a particular doctor, see another. A GP who you see regularly will come to know you and your family, and is more likely to notice changes in your mood than is a doctor who doesn’t know you.

Your Maternal and Child Health Nurse or GP might refer you to a counsellor or psychologist. Your GP might refer you to a psychiatrist.

Counsellor
A counsellor uses psychological knowledge and skills to help clients to understand more about themselves, and encourages clients to find their own solutions to their problems. Counsellors work in private practice. Some community health centres also employ counsellors. Rebates for counselling services are not currently available from Medicare, but some private health funds offer partial rebates of counsellors’ fees to clients with ancillary benefits’ insurance.

Psychologist
A psychologist applies psychological principles of behaviour to the diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioural problems. Psychologists are not medical doctors, and cannot prescribe mediation. To help clients, psychologists use counselling and ‘talk therapies’. Psychologists work in hospitals, mental health clinics, and in private practice. Many local government-run community health centres also employ psychologists, and services may be offered free or for a low fee. Private psychologists set their own fees. Rebates for psychological services are not currently available from Medicare, but many private health funds offer partial rebates of psychologists’ fees to clients with ancillary benefits’ insurance.

Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a medical practitioner who has specialised in the diagnosis and treatment of emotional difficulties and mental illness. Some psychiatrists will bulk-bill to Medicare, and Medicare will reimburse part of the fee charged by a psychiatrist who does not bulk-bill. Many private health funds offer partial rebates of psychiatrists’ fees. In most cases of PND, a psychiatrist will use a combination of pharmacological treatments and counselling.


To fully recover from PND, most women will require help from an experienced health professional.