postpartum depression Archives - Reverie Acupuncture

Check out these blogtober posts to understand more about how I approach women's health, acupuncture, doula work (and other birth work), herbalism and more!

Postpartum care and the attitude towards postpartum recovery in this country is terrible. Part of the reason for our absolutely atrocious maternal mortality rate is that once a patient is sent home, that’s typically the end of their care. There might be a postpartum checkup a couple of weeks later but that’s the last time a patient will see their care provider until their next annual exam.

Screening for postpartum depression happens at your child’s pediatric visits and that screen ends at six weeks, well before most symptoms of PPD or PPA arise.

We have to do something about this. But instead of looking forward, many natural care practitioners are looking back. The traditions that are still alive in many other countries can be used here to support new parents during this time of transition.

I’m going to cover the first month of postpartum care from a Chinese medicine perspective, but don’t limit yourself to my view! So many other cultures have rich and supportive traditions for families that could be beneficial and all are definitely worth considering.

By Jessica Gustafson, 1 month1 month ago

there are three reasons women are turning to alcohol to relax and escape. While many are quick to judge, maybe it's time we take a hard look at why mommy wine culture is so popular

Women's Health

Mommy Wine Culture, Part 2: A Symptom of a Bigger Problem

In the last post, I spent a ton of time on a difficult topic: the health risks of mommy wine culture.

We don’t like to look at it. We don’t like to talk about it. We don’t like to hear about it. Just let us have our wine and relax. We worked 98 hours this week and we’ve earned it.

For some of you, it was a hard read. For some it was eye-opening. And for a few of you, it was “alarmist bullshit.” One particular mom said that I should be a part of the solution and not part of the problem. When I asked her what the solution was she said,

The solution is for you to mind what’s in your glass and stop worrying about everyone else.

"I vow to rescue all living beings from their sufferings...my purpose is to preserve the lives of others." — But, that’s what I vowed to do when I graduated

I get it. I do. And maybe if I wasn’t a healthcare practitioner, minding my own glass would be easier. However, alcohol isn’t good for anyone.

According to the World Health Organization, “overall there is a causal relationship between alcohol consumption and more than 60 types of disease and injury. Alcohol is estimated to cause about 20-30% of worldwide esophageal cancer, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, homicide, epilepsy, and motor vehicle accidents.” Every year, alcohol causes 1.8 million deaths.

The 2015-2020 “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” recommends that if you have never had a drink in your life, that you shouldn’t start. Full stop.

So why, then, has #winemom become a growing hashtag? Why has this mommy wine culture simultaneously become a joke and a social movement? And why is it just moms?

Why are we willing to risk depression, anxiety, weight gain, osteoporosis, premature menopause, menstrual irregularity, infertility, systemic inflammation, stomach issues, gingivitis, impaired decision making, heart disease and a wide variety of cancers for the relief of a single glass of wine at the end of the night?

Because it’s our only choice.

At some point our society stood up and said that we would rather sacrifice the health and well-being of our mothers than to give them the community and support they need.

The jokes just make us feel better about it.

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By Jessica Gustafson, 2 months2 months ago

The Outer Shu are a way to treat psychological, emotional and even spiritual conditions from the outside in

Acupuncture

The Outer Shu: A Natural Approach to Mental Health

Emotions are complicated. Psychology is complicated. Humans, well, we’re complicated.

This season we’ve been diving deeply into emotional and psychological disorders on the blog. We started on Halloween with Sun Si Miao’s ghost points, the ancient treatment for conditions like addiction, bipolar, depression and anxiety.

Last week we talked about the shen, or how we understand spirit and consciousness in Chinese medicine.

But this week I thought we would get back to acupuncture and discuss an interesting group of points – the outer shu points – and tie them back to their impact on the shen.

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By Jessica Gustafson, 1 year4 months ago

Postpartum

Postpartum depression and the baby blues

This has been a post I’ve been meaning to write for a long time, I just haven’t known where to start. But sometimes starting a post is a matter of putting my butt in a chair and my hands on a keyboard.

We don’t like to talk about depression as a society. We talk about it in quiet places, in shadowy spaces and in clinic offices. We talk about it in shame and secrecy. And the shame and secrecy around depression is a significant contributor to the tragedy of suicide.

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By Jessica Gustafson, 1 year4 months ago