Sarwat Gilani talks about her struggle with postpartum depression – Culture

Sarwat Gilani opened up about postpartum depression for the first time after her third pregnancy and the dark thoughts she faced during the difficult time.

During a recent appearance in Good morning ARY Digital Pakistan, the actor revealed that she really understood what postpartum depression was after giving birth to her daughter Ella in December. She only met her daughter four days after giving birth because Gilani had to undergo “serious operations” after the birth.

“When I met him [Ella] four days later, and she was trying to breastfeed, I felt I had to abandon her [from my arms] because that would end all tensions,” she said.

Gilani said she later broke down and told her husband, plastic surgeon Fahad Mirza, that she wanted to hurt the baby. Mirza told her that she was experiencing postpartum blues and that the feeling would not be permanent.

“This awareness is very important. If you have strange feelings, they are not you. It’s just a state of mind you’re going through,” he said Joyland the actor pointed out. She said that for awareness, you should read about postpartum depression before giving birth because the pregnant woman should be the first to know what she is going through.

“Anything can happen to you during that depression,” she said.

Gilani said that in the first four months after giving birth, she was in a very dark place, adding that during postpartum depression, people faced suicidal thoughts and their condition became “darkness or doom”.

“Afterbirth is a very important topic that we don’t talk about,” she said.

According to the Mayo Clinic, postpartum depression is a complication of childbirth that results in a severe and long-term form of depression experienced by new mothers. Some symptoms include depressed mood or severe mood swings, crying a lot, difficulty bonding with your baby, severe irritability and anger, fear that you are not a good mother, and despair.

In Pakistan, postpartum depression is common among women with a prevalence rate ranging from 28 percent to 63 percent, placing it among the highest in Asia, according to a report by the Nursing for Women’s Health Journal. Despite how prevalent it is in Pakistan, postpartum depression is often considered a taboo subject, swept under the rug as it is not considered a ‘legitimate’ concern.

Celebrities like Gilani raising awareness of this disorder helps to normalize it and start wider conversations about the importance of providing adequate care to mothers suffering from this condition.