hi everyone my name is ilao and I'm a registered Midwife and childbirth education instructor I practice Midwifery in a large Urban setting in Canada and I have two lovely children at home I really enjoy educating families throughout their pregnancies the birth itself and in the postpartum period for today's video we're going to cover mesin the baby blues and obsessive compulsive disorder also known as OCD let's get started first we'll cover matrescence so matrescence is a developmental phase and it sounds similar to adolescence Matt meaning maternal so mum and Essence meaning the end of that phase so as we transition into new Parenthood this developmental phase encompasses is emotional changes physical changes hormonal changes and even social changes the way we identify ourselves and how we see our identities as a mom as a sister as a daughter all of that takes a shift so that's really what matrescence is is that adaptation this period can last all the way through the postnatal period for quite some time and everyone's a little bit different just the way that we progress through adolescence where some people find it a little bit easier and others have a really challenging time the same goes for mesin remember not everyone's the same some women do not experience that surge that Rush of pure love and joy the moment their babies are born sometimes it takes a while for the brain to process everything that's happening and to catch up so really setting expectations and meeting yourself exactly where you happen to be in that moment can be really helpful during this big big transition in your life next we'll talk about baby blues during your pregnancy there are many hormones coursing through your body responsible for different things one of those is progesterone and its primary job is maintaining the pregnancy but after the birth of the placenta that progesterone takes a really sharp Dr drop and not immediately but within a few days you really start to feel those hormonal shifts the result of that can be something called Baby Blues and many many women will experience this irritability moodiness anxiety difficulty concentrating or sleeping any of that can come up and our partners can notice that in our behaviors just keep in mind you are very tired you're likely sore and now you have a brand new human to bring home with you with no instruction manual that's a really really big adjustment the important thing with baby blues and recognizing the difference between that and postpartum depression is the timing generally baby blues tend to settle after a couple of weeks if those symptoms are very severe or they assist longer or if you experience any thoughts of hurting yourself or your baby it's really important for you to link in with your healthc care provider at this time let's move on to perinatal OCD this refers to the onset of obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms this could be intrusive thoughts or images that you have a really hard time leaving from your mind it could also manifest as repetitive behaviors and behaviors that start to interfere with your daily life that could be excessive handwashing excessive cleaning generally these stem from a place of anxiety so worry that you've left the stove on or the house is not locked up or your baby might come to harm if they come into contact with germs for example you've cleaned and disinfected the counter worried that baby will come into contact with germs on the surface that could potentially make them ill then a few minutes later you're back again cleaning disinfecting and it's interfering with your daily life to the point where you're not able to complete other tasks it's really important to point out that repetitive cleaning can be a symptom of OCD and this is quite different than nesting so towards the end of the pregnancy many women experience this surge of hormones that really tells them to set up their nest or their environment and get things ready for baby when it comes to perinatal OCD those are intrusive thoughts and really those repetitive behaviors that we do are a way to manage the anxiety to reduce the anxiety and to distract from some of those feelings we might be having that brings us to the end of this video I hope you found it informative and please be sure to check out the others in this series take care and we'll see you again soon