Postpartum Nightmares

I saw a show today on Discover Health Channel. It was called Postpartum Nightmares. It greatly disturbed me on several different levels. It showed several mom's stories and their struggles with postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. What bothered me so much was that it was obvious that a lot of the anxiety that led to their depression could have been avoided if they had better birth experiences without interventions, breastfed their babies successfully, and slept with their children. The show actually brought me to tears. Never once when the moms were trying to decrease their PPD were they encouraged by family, friends, or professionals to seek breastfeeding support or to put their babies in bed with them. So much of their anxiety was caused by having children that would not sleep in cribs in other rooms. The mom's actually took medication to make them stop checking on their babies at night. (They kept checking on them to make sure they were breathing.) With all of my 7 kids I was a bit obsessed with that too but all I had to do was listen for my babies's breath as they slept next to me. The whole show made me feel so sorry for those moms and babies. I have had PPD myself and I have even sought help with anti-depressants. I understand the feeling of desperation. I just can't understand not tucking my baby in next to me at night for my own peace of mind. This show was well made but the content was disturbing.