Adolescent mother's depression after the birth of their babies: weathering the storm

Adolescence, Fall, 2002 by Donna A. Clemmens

And sometimes I would just break out and cry like I am right now because like every day I am depressed. I mean every day I'm happy but every day I am down and out like nobody could help me. I just wanted to isolate myself from everyone ... there's not a day that goes by that I am not feeling depressed. Not a day. Every day is something.

When this particular mother was later asked about follow-up with her physician, she replied that she had told him and was informed by him that this was a normal reaction to motherhood.

Theme 6. You Are Changing and Regrouping, Seeing a Different Future

Nor'easters do pass somewhat quickly. Once the warm air comes, the ice melts, as do the depressive feelings for some of the mothers. Many mothers felt they emerged feeling stronger and wanted to warn other adolescent women about the reality of early motherhood. It was almost as if they wanted to turn their hurt into something constructive. A 16-year-old African American mother with a 3-month-old expressed it this way:

I'm glad that I did have him because now I'm more responsible. Now I'm more outspoken. Now I want to teach young girls that are following in the same footsteps that I followed, that I'm trying to stop. So in a way it's good because I'm more educated, more responsible, more reliable in everything ... but then in a way it's sadness and darkness.

All adolescent mothers had warm feelings toward their children. They did not blame their babies for their depressed feelings. They tried not to let their feelings of anger or depression affect their love for their babies. Many adolescent mothers regretted having sex early, but expressed no regret at having the baby. They all spoke of their deep commitment to their babies. Most of the adolescent mothers spoke of the importance of the support they received through the young parents programs and from the other adolescent mothers. They sought solace from each other and felt the warmth radiating from the group, analogous to the sun that finally breaks through the storm clouds.

DISCUSSION

Feeling depressed as an adolescent mother following the birth of a baby included several unique characteristics: feeling changed, different, and scared with the sudden realization of motherhood; feeling torn between the responsibilities of adolescence and motherhood; feeling abandoned and rejected by partners and peers; questioning and not understanding the experience of depression and what was happening to them; feeling like everything was falling down on them; and feeling that they were re-grouping to see a different future. The sense of abandonment, rejection, and isolation, and feeling unprepared for motherhood were themes that also emerged from other qualitative studies (Lesser, 1997, Paskiewicz, 2001).

Some similarities were noted between the depressive symptomatology expressed by adolescent mothers in this study and those symptoms identified through commonly used screening instruments. These included crying, loneliness, sadness, sleep changes, and mood swings. The most similar symptom structure occurred with studies in which the CES-D was used in screening for depression. The BDI, EPDS, and RADS, on the other hand, may not have identified these adolescent mothers as depressed, depending on the cut-off score used.