Mental Health Practitioner, Addiction Specialist and Counselling Psychologist Esther Kyewaa Opoku has urged women and their families to recognise that postpartum depression can begin during pregnancy, warning that many mothers suffer long before they give birth.

Drawing from her personal experience and professional expertise, she explained that the condition is driven by significant hormonal changes that start immediately after conception and can affect a woman's emotions, sleep patterns and decision-making.

She disclosed that while pregnant with twins, she became so overwhelmed that she wanted to terminate the pregnancy, not realising at the time that she was battling depression.

"I went to the midwife and told her I couldn't carry the babies and wanted to abort them. After a week, I still wanted to go ahead because I was crying every day. It was only later that my colleagues helped me realise I was depressed," she recounted at Convergence of Mothers.

According to her, many women experience what is commonly referred to as "baby blues" immediately after childbirth, while others develop severe postpartum depression that may leave them unable to bond with their babies.

She explained that the dramatic drop in pregnancy hormones after delivery can trigger emotional instability, persistent sadness, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances and, in severe cases, hallucinations or thoughts of harming the baby.

Esther Kyewaa Opoku said the biggest challenge is that many mothers and even their relatives fail to recognise the warning signs early, often dismissing them as ordinary stress associated with childbirth.

She stressed that postpartum depression is a medical condition that can be treated if detected early, urging families to pay attention whenever a new mother appears persistently withdrawn, unusually emotional or overwhelmed.

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