Hi everyone my name is ILO and I'm a registered Midwife and childbirth education instructor I have two lovely children at home and I practice Midwifery in a large Urban setting in Canada I really enjoy educating families throughout the paranal period in their births and in the postpartum as well in this video I'm going to talk about perinatal mental health but particularly share some breathing exercises with you and we'll do them together so let's get started have you ever wondered why a few deep breaths can really help you reset and feel more relaxed breath work functions in a couple of different ways the first is to reset that nervous system to bring us calm in the parasympathetic nervous state so that that's your rest and digest breath work also works very well to distract us and distraction can bring about that calm and also keep us in that parasympathetic nervous state so now we're going to look at two different types of breathing and we're going to practice both the first type is deep breathing this is a great option if you don't have a full 10 minutes to go through a significant breathing exercise and it really helps calm the nervous system and bring you into that rest and digest or parasympathetic nervous State the next type of breathing we'll practice is box breathing box breathing is a great distraction it really helps you focus on what you're doing in the moment and this one will help calm your heart rate and also keep you in that really important parasympathetic rest and digest calm nervous State let's start with deep breathing so I want you to take a minute just to get comfortable situate yourselves stretch out the neck bring up those shoulders away from the ears and if it's helpful you can place your hands on your tummy on the rib cage or maybe even up on the chest we're going to practice ractice both the 3:6 ratio and the 4:8 ratio together the way that we do deep breathing is to feel the lungs expand up and outward all the way into the rib cage and then exhale releasing all the air down the inhales are shorter than the exhales so we take three seconds for the inhale and exhale for a count of six so let's give that a try inhale to 3 exhale 2 3 4 5 6 inhale 2 3 exhale 2 3 4 five 6 inhale 2 three exhale 2 3 4 5 6 inhale 2 3 exhale 2 3 4 5 6 inhale 2 3 exhale 2 3 4 5 6 inhale 2 3 exhale 2 3 4 5 6 really well done take a minute just to shuffle relax those shoulders and reset and now we'll try the 4 to8 ratio and remember think about inflating like a balloon those lungs expanding outwards and as you you exhale pressing all of that air down and out through the diaphragm inhale 2 3 4 exhale 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 inhale 2 3 4 exhale 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 inhale 2 3 4 exhale 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 inhale 2 3 4 exhale 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 really well done shake that one off as well reset roll your shoulders down big deep breath in and out so ask yourselves do you feel more relaxed did you like the 3 to six or the 4 to8 did the 3 to six feel more manageable was the 4 to8 a little bit too long really make it work for yourselves focus on the inhales and then lengthening those exhales so deep breath in the exhale is always longer than the exhale and you can modify and use any ratio that works well for you next we're going to practice box breathing for this technique there are six steps the first is to identify a rectangle or a square in the room in front of you so it could be a coffee table it could be a painting on the wall or a window for the Second Step you're going to inhale for a count of four and track up the left hand side of the box or rectangle for step three we're going to track across the top and hold our breath for two counts step four exhale for four counts and track down the right side of the Box step five hold for two counts as you track across the bottom of the box and step six is to repeat again okay let's give it a try we're going to practice this for about a minute inhale 2 3 4 hold one 2 exhale 2 3 4 hold one 2 inhale 2 3 4 hold one 2 exhale 2 3 4 hold one 2 inhale 2 3 4 hold one 2 exhale 2 3 4 hold one 2 inhale 2 3 4 hold one 2 exhale 2 3 4 hold one 2 really well done you can use either deep Brea breathing or box breathing really at any time and the more you practice the better you'll get at it and the more you'll get out of it now that we're nice and relaxed I'd like to talk about a questionnaire you might see in your prenatal or postpartum visits it's called the Edinburgh postpartum depression scale and it's a screening tool that Healthcare Providers can use to screen for signs of depression it may come out in prenatal visits it may come out in postpartum visits or it may not be seen at all if you are experiencing some concerns having low mood anxiety or depression you can always ask your care provider if you haven't seen it yet or you haven't been asked about it yet you can even print it out at home go through the questions and bring it to a visit it's a great way to Kickstart that conversation and discuss your mood and experiences that you might have been having let's talk about medication sometimes it can be hard to tell when you might benefit from medication so I'd like to use this example as guidance imagine that mental health issues and illnesses are like being in a deep dark pit you can see the blue sky above you and on the wall of that pit is a ladder the rungs of the latter are self-care activities so reaching out to Family Social supports self-care that makes you feel good taking time for yourself mindfulness practice exercise sleep good nutrition for some of us those rungs are well Out Of Reach people may not be able to engage in those self-care activ activities or they may not be able to engage in talk therapy or CBT and they really need that extra boost to even make it to the first rung of that ladder from there they can start to engage in those self-care activities and work their way back up towards the Blue Sky medication can take care of that chemical piece some women who are taking medications prior to pregnancy may need their dose adjusted or need to change their medication it is important to ensure that all medications you're taking are safe during pregnancy and lactation and all of those other activities can help fill our buckets and help take us to that blue sky and keep that blue sky in view now we'll cover some advice from Healthcare Providers and our mental health experts first things first this is your unique Journey try not to compare to other parents you may need to adjust your expectations and shift your priorities so minding your nutrition Health Going Back to Basics prioritizing sleep not taking on too much all at once that can be a bit overwhelming you may need to reach out and find that support system this is a great opportunity to practice doing that if you're not really comfortable asking for help so take that time to plan ahead and think about what type of parent you might be how will you get enough sleep how will you prepare meals who will you lean on for support where is your community it does take a village after all try focusing on your baby's needs you're the expert in this department if you are feeling feeling overwhelmed or anxious maybe make a list of coping strategies that have worked well for you in the past you could start there be kind to yourself be compassionate to yourself be generous to yourself go out on a date buy the dress that you've been eyeing treat yourself finally really take this one into consideration flexibility and adaptability go such a long way I always tell people babies make the plans and we're just along for the ride so if you can be adaptable flexible and adjust those expectations that can go a really really long way to helping your mood that brings us to the end of this discussion I hope you found some useful tools and strategies and please be sure to check out the videos in the rest of our series take care and we'll see you again soon