Family and friends of a young mother were thrown into mourning yesterday after she died at hospital from injuries she sustained in a 40-foot fall at her home three days ago. Abigail Ragobar never regained consciousness after she was admitted to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and died just after 2 pm yesterday.
However, in their time of grief, Ragobar’s family also reached out to society to highlight the effects of postpartum syndrome on mothers, since they believe this ultimately led to her tragic end. In a public post on Facebook yesterday, Ragobar’s sister, Charlotte Young Sing, gave details of the events which led up to Ragobar’s death.
At the time of the post, however, Ragobar was still alive and the post also paid tribute to her life and asked family and loved ones to pray for her. It was shared 2,000 times by Young Sing’s Facebook friends.
Young Sing said Ragobar, a mother of two, “lived for her children — Portia and newborn Raphael — and would never do anything to hurt herself or the ones she loves but her disillusioned state left her vulnerable to danger.” She recalled the heart-wrenching moment when she found her sister on Monday morning at 5.45 am.
“Words cannot describe what it was like finding her body nestled in a lemon tree but after saying the ‘Our Father’ out loud, God gave me the strength to pull her out. While her husband and my mom stood at my side holding up the branches of thorns.
“Abby, as she is fondly called, is currently in critical condition and fighting for her life…past the point of a coma medically,” Young Sing wrote. She noted that the loss of her grandfather-in-law and grandfather in the past few months had initially led the family to believe that Ragobar was in grief but later on they realised it was something else: Postpartum syndrome.
“The perks of being a mom is tangible beautiful kids that love us unconditionally but what many people don’t tell you is that postpartum depression is real and its side effects can be devastating and its symptoms can be easily missed,” Young Sing posted.
Young Sing noted that it was her hope that by posting their story, others may be more attentive to the severity of postpartum depression.
“We hope that by sharing this post that we are able to make others more aware of postpartum depression and that awareness will save lives.”
Since the post was made yesterday morning prayers and best wishes poured in for Abby and her family. The family thanked all those who shared and wrote posts of support, saying they were overwhelmed.
“To all praying, we are deeply moved and overwhelmed with humility and thankfulness for your prayers, they do not go unnoticed. God is good and life is full of second chances and we are praying for a miracle,” Young Sing wrote at the time.
Although Young Sing’s post was a public one, she did not immediately respond to our attempts to contact her via a Facebook message yesterday.
Cases on rise in T&T
Gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr Sherene Kalloo says there have been an increasing number of postpartum depression cases in Trinidad and Tobago. She told the T&T Guardian yesterday that bout ten to 20 per cent of patients in our society “show signs of varying degrees of severity of the symptoms of postpartum depression.”
There is no one cause and the symptoms were not the same for each person, she said, but learning to identify them was very important as one of the most severe symptoms was suicidal thoughts.
Kalloo explained that postpartum depression was defined as feelings of sadness or depression after giving birth, soon after delivery, or usually within the first three months of delivery and could continue for up to one year.
“Causes are not specific. It’s been thought that a combination of factors will play a role. Hormonal imbalance, where a mother’s oestrogen, progesterone and cortisol levels fall dramatically after delivery, which causes changes in emotion and mood similar, or to a higher degree of those experienced during pre-menstruation, the PMS syndrome,” Kaloo said.
“Women who have a previous history of depression, or family history of depression, use of drugs and alcohol abuse, stressful life events, like marriage problems, inadequate family support, if a partner is not sharing duties, financial problems, or even the delivery of a still birth, are more susceptible.”
The symptoms vary as much as the causal factors... “feeling sad, feelings of hopelessness, restlessness, difficultly to focus and making decisions, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, loss of interest in doing things that brought you pleasure in the past, feelings of withdrawal from friends and family, sleeping too little or too much, fatigue, tiredness, extreme suicidal thoughts, extreme negative thoughts of the baby.”
There are physical symptoms as well, she pointed out, including “anxiety, palpitations, dizziness, headaches and chest pains.”
Kalloo said there was also the mild “baby blues” that could last anywhere between three days to two weeks in a lot of mothers “but this isn’t severe and does not need treatment. Family support can help with this. The problems are with those with suicidal thoughts and who may want to harm the baby. If left untreated, it can turn into disaster.”
Most times a patient may not want to talk about the depression they were experiencing but Kalloo encouraged relatives to look out for the signs and inform doctors about the possibility of postpartum depression in mothers.
“Don’t be afraid to do it because of the consequences that can occur,” she said. Moreover, she said postpartum anxiety did not discriminate who it affected.
“It can be someone who has been normal, had a normal pregnancy. Two out of every 1,000 births that are normal pregnancies can end up having PPD to the extreme of mothers having thoughts of suicide.”
However, it did seem to affect the lower socio-economic class at a greater rate, as they might be at a greater risk of having financial difficulties, she said.
“But there is the percentage of it happening to previously happy people,” she noted.
But postpartum depression could also affect a father, she said.
“Researchers are finding that men are also affected, not the hormonal aspect of it but the whole adjustment. Some think it’s a burden and can’t lime with the boys again... and the financial burden, so they get depressed and withdrawn.”
The new research has termed this occurrence as paternal postpartum depression.
“Some men can reach the point of anger and violent behaviour, extra marital relationships, decreased libido, few have even been documented as reaching suicidal thoughts but it’s all new research,” she said. — Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh
GET HELP FOR THESE SYMPTOMS
Some of the more common symptoms of postpartum depression include:
• Feeling sad, hopeless, empty or overwhelmed.
• Crying more often than usual or for no apparent reason.
• Worrying or feeling overly anxious.
• Feeling moody, irritable or restless.
• Oversleeping, or being unable to sleep even when her baby is asleep.
• Having trouble concentrating, remembering details and making decisions.
• Experiencing anger or rage.
• Losing interest in activities that are usually enjoyable.
• Suffering from physical aches and pains, including frequent headaches, stomach problems and muscle pain.
• Eating too little or too much.
• Withdrawing from or avoiding friends and family.
• Having trouble bonding or forming an emotional attachment with her baby.
• Persistently doubting her ability to care for her baby.
• Thinking about harming herself or her baby.
Only a healthcare professional can diagnose a woman with postpartum depression. Because symptoms of this condition are broad and may vary between women, a healthcare provider can help a woman figure out whether the symptoms she is feeling are due to postpartum depression or something else. A woman who experiences any of these symptoms should seek medical help right away.
Some women are at greater risk for developing postpartum depression because they have one or more risk factors, such as:
• Symptoms of depression during or after a previous pregnancy.
• Previous experience with depression or bipolar disorder at another time in her life.
• A family member who has been diagnosed with depression or other mental illness.
• A stressful life event during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth, such as job loss, death of a loved one, domestic violence, or personal illness.
• Medical complications during childbirth, including premature delivery or having a baby with medical problems.
• Mixed feelings about the pregnancy, whether it was planned or unplanned
• A lack of strong emotional support from her spouse, partner, family, or friends
• Alcohol or other drug abuse problems.
Postpartum depression can affect any woman regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or economic status.