Understanding postnatal depression

Mothers Cry Too
Dr Sara Weeks (Penguin, RRP $35)

Subtitled “recognising and coping with postnatal depression”, this is a handy guide for all new mothers and their families. It discusses the whole range of conditions from the fairly innocuous three day blues to manic psychosis and bipolar disorder.

The first part gives an understanding of postnatal depression. This is followed by risk factors and warning signs, treatments, ideas on how to adjust to parenthood and a final part on how others can help.

As you would expect, there is also a comprehensive list of New Zealand- based resources, a glossary and index.

As a new mother for the fourth time, I still learned a lot from this book. You don’t have to be on the verge of a mental breakdown to find it useful.

Highly recommended.