As this may very well be the last of our communication for 2011, may we take the opportunity to wish all of those who celebrate at this time of the year, a very Happy and Blessed Christmas and may each one of you cherish this time with your families and loved ones.

If you are travelling, be safe and “arrive alive”.

We will see you all again in the new year refreshed and rearing to go!

With love and thanks
The PNDSA Team

Please note, the PNDSA office will be closed from the 19th of December until the 10th of January.
For any help during this time, please phone the Helpline on 0828820072

Friday 29 July 2011

9am – 1pm
(registration starts at 8:30am)

Netcare Head Office Auditorium
- 76 Maude Street (Cnr Maude and West Street)
Sandton

ACP accredited workshop

Understanding, Diagnosing and Treating Peri Natal Depression and Anxiety

On behalf of PNDSA we would like to extend to you an invitation to attend a workshop on Peri Natal Depression and Anxiety. This course is open to all Healthcare Professionals and Individuals with an interest in Women’s Health and in particular, Peri Natal Depression.

TOPICS

Presenter: Dr Trudy Smith
Incidence and predisposing factors for developing Post Natal Depression

Presenter: Joanne Zagnoev
Stressor Based Intervention (SBI)
An integrative approach to the assessment and treatment of Post Natal Depression

Presenter: Dr Dora Wynchanck
Medicating the pregnant and post natal mom for depression

This workshop has been sponsored by Netcare, Aspen and the PNDSA.
Attendance is free but reservations must be made.
Completion of a Registration Form will secure your booking.
To receive a Registration Form please provide the following details and click “Submit”.
RSVP by 15 July 2011.

Refreshments will be served.

CONTACT

To book your spot or to find out more about PNDSA please contact
Colleen Knutsen or Debbie Steyn – info@pndsa.org.za or 021 797 4498

For more information on the workshop please contact
Debbie Levin – debbielevin@54.co.za or 082 825 4283

SPONSORS

MAP

PNDSA Training Day – Sat 21 May 2011

CPD ACCREDITATION

3 Level One CEU’S

A distinction is generally  made between three types of postnatal depression:

postpartum blues (so-called baby blues)

postnatal depression

postnatal psychosis

Baby blues are the result of changes in hormone levels, usually striking on about the third day after childbirth.  It is very common after the birth of your child to feel tired, weepy, and anxious.  It can last between 3 and 5 days.  If they linger longer than this, you may be suffering from PND.

PND, which can develop up to a year after the birth and last for a year or more, is much more serious.  It is caused by hormone fluctuations and chronic fatigue but can also be  associated with psychological problems and anxiety.  Depression is usually ascribed to a combination of chemical (Hormonal) changes and environmental factors – both of which are present in a woman who has just given birth.  Symptoms include weepiness, emotional numbness, a deep feeling of sadness, loss of appetite or overeating, excessive dependence on your partner and the feeling that your life is out of control.

Postnatal psychosis usually develops within the first 2 weeks after child birth.  Symptoms include hallucinations, loss of muscle control, severe depression and confusion.  This condition is very rare, affecting one in every 1000 mothers, but is extremely serious and requires urgent medical treatment.

From the 11th to the 15th of February  is Pregnancy Awareness week.    Being pregnant and giving birth to a child will probably be the biggest change you will undergo in your life. It involves more changes than immigrating to another country. Everything changes, your body, your mind, your relationships, your career, your financial status, your responsibilities. Pregnancy is a time of growth and hope, but it is also a time when a woman is very vulnerable and not everyone experiences the glow of the perfect pregnancy.

Being pregnant is often physically and emotionally draining and caring for a new baby is hard, unrelenting work. No matter how well prepared you are or how much you looked forward to the arrival of your baby, you will find it difficult at times. You will probably experience a wide range of feelings, from joy and excitement to frustration and resentment, guilt and anxiety. This is quite normal, and you will need help, support and understanding from the people around you. Sometimes, however, these unhappy feelings become so intense that you feel overwhelmed, and out of control. If this happens, you may be suffering from depression or anxiety. 

Depression and anxiety is common during pregnancy, and may affect as many as 40% of pregnant women in South Africa. In addition to depressed mood and anxiety, women with antenatal depression often feel irritable, have difficulty sleeping and are not able to function as well they should at work and at home. Untreated antenatal depression (AND) places women at risk for postnatal depression, alcohol and drug abuse and has been associated with an increased risk of preterm labour and low birth weight. Effective treatments that are safe for both mum and baby exist for antenatal depression. You are your baby’s most important person, so take care of yourself. There is no shame in experiencing depression during pregnancy – acknowledging how you are feeling and seeking help to ensure your emotional well being is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child.

As this may very well be the last of our communication for 2010, may we take the opportunity to wish all of those who celebrate at this time of the year, a very Happy and Blessed Christmas and may each one of you cherish this time with your families and loved ones.

If you are travelling, be safe and “arrive alive”.

We will see you all again in the new year refreshed and rearing to go!

With love and thanks
The PNDSA Team

Please note, the PNDSA office will be closed from the 21st of December until the 5th of January.
For any help during this time, please phone the Helpline on 0828820072

When I went to  my gynecologist for my 6-week postpartum checkup he casually threw in the question, “So what contraception are you using?”  I looked at him like he was mad and said, “Hello, I’ve just had a BABY!”  While our biological equipment is theoretically functional for sex after 6 weeks, a woman’s libido typically plummets after the birth of her first child and it may take years (not weeks) before it regains it’s former cruising altitude.

For many women the lack of desire for sex after childbirth is one of the struggles they never anticipated.  This is affected by a number of factors. 

• Firstly, the change in body image after pregnancy can take it’s toll on the sexual front because, for many women, their satisfaction with their bodies is strongly related to their feelings of sensuality and sexuality. 
• Secondly, early motherhood is associated with exhaustion and actually the greatest need for any new mom (or not so new!) mom, once she has climbed into bed, is sleep, not sex.
• Thirdly, it’s the feeling of being “bodied out” – that feeling that wants to scream “I’ve had a baby all over my body all day and now I just want some space”.

If sex is not on the agenda then talking about it must be.  The longer the issue is avoided the larger it becomes in the couples’ mind.  What many women do need is a reassuring hug, or a comforting hold so long as this is not interpreted as foreplay.  They also need emotional support and practical support.  In fact, research shows that there is a connection (although sometimes subtle or unconscious) between sex and housework – the more helpful your husband/partner is, the more desire there is for sex (Naomi Wolf, 2001).

So, to all men out there, if you want the woman in your life to feel erotic, start washing the dishes and doing your share of the housework!

By:  Linda Lewis    B.A. Hons(Psych) UCT, M.A. (Res. Psych) UCT

UbbaBubba baby wrap company

As a non profit organisation, we are always looking at ways to fund the day to day running and various projects we do at the PNDSA.

This is never an easy task as there are literally thousands of other NPO’s scrabbling for a piece of the pie (which is not that big!). If you are not an organisation dealing with HIV, education or children, the piece of pie you are trying to get becomes even smaller! That’s why we are eternally grateful to the National Lottery Development Trust Fund and other private enterprises such as Adcock Ingram, Woolworths and the Ackerman Family Trust who donate to our cause and make it possible for us to keep our doors open.

We are even more excited when smaller companies such as ubbaBubba ask if they can partner with us and donate part of their proceeds for a particular item.

ubbaBubba is a local company who produce baby wraps and a few other baby products. They have agreed to donate R10 to the PNDSA for every blue baby wrap they sell.

While we realise we will not be making thousands of rands a week on just this product, we are excited that companies are becoming more aware of the social responsibility they have and are willing to make donations of this kind. Ubbabubba, we applaud you for your decision and are most grateful to have you as one of our sponsors! We wish you prosperity and hope you sell thousands of blue baby wraps in the future!

Baby Blue Baby Wrap (buy this one!!!)

Black Baby Wrap

Stone and Chocolate Baby Wrap

If you would like to support ubbaBubba and indirectly the PNDSA, then feel free to log onto the ubbaBubba website to order yours today! (Just make sure it’s a blue one!!) http://www.ubbabubba.co.za/

You can also follow the story on the website http://www.ubbabubba.co.za/givingback.htm

If you have a product you would like to “co brand” please give us a shout, we would be delighted to chat!

Until later…..

Welcome to our third official PNDSA Blog entry!

We are slowly but surely finding our way around the blog site and are quite pleased with our efforts thus far!

We hope someone out there is actually reading it!!

So… how are things in the office??

It was barely a month after doing the Cape Town Baba Indaba that Alneré, Colleen and myself jetted off to Jozzie to set up and run the first ever PNDSA stand at the Soweto Baba Indaba

The Baba Indaba advert on our home page

Armed with “Anna” the obligatory GPS, we managed to find our way from Lanseria Airport to Randburg and then to the MTN Expo Centre off Nasrec Road just outside of Soweto.

We had no idea how this would go as it was the first time that the Baba Indaba would be held in Soweto.

Welcome to the Soweto Baba Indaba

Ticket offices stand in readiness for the crowds

We spent much of Thurday setting up our stand, which I have to say looked absolutely fabulous!!

This had rather nothing to do with the 3 of us and everything to do with Michelle Phokaners and her very able team from Block & Chisel who went the extra mile to make sure our stand stood out!

A truck pulled up and before we knew it our stand went from “bland” to “grand” within minutes!

Michelle and team… you guys are the best! Thanks again for all the work that went into making this such a success!

Our stand sponsor

Our sophisticated stand drew much attention thanks to Block & Chisel

Our "grand" stand

Expo Bear keeps a watchful eye over the sweeties!

The Baba Indaba officially opened it’s doors at 10 o clock on Friday morning and the first eager mom’s, dad’s and family extras started winding their way through the many aisles of goodies on display! Friday proved to be a quiet day but Saturday and Sunday were extremely busy and we were able to give away about 2000 or so pamphlets.

It really was worth our while taking part in the “Bump and Beyond” Competition as Expo goers were encouraged to visit the participating stands to receive a “sticker” for their competition form. When the form was complete with all the participating stand’s stickers, they handed them in and then stood a chance of winning a fabulous prize of over R30 000.00 worth of baby goods etc.

Bump and Beyond Competition

R30 000 worth of gifts in the Bump and Beyond Competition

The winner of the Bump and Beyond competition with Baba Indaba Staff

The PNDSA Bump and Beyond gift on display

It gave us a wonderful opportunity to engage in conversation while placing the blue sticker on their form and meant that many folks had to actually look for our stand and come and chat to us! Sneaky I guess but we have to grab hold of every opportunity to get the message out there!! To take part in the competition, PNDSA had to donate a prize. The prizes we donated were donations from two fabulous PNDSA supporters namely Aardvark Press who donated a book by Anet Ahern called; “Becoming a mother, remembering yourself.” and a baby wrap from Ubba Bubba. Many thanks to our sponsors who made this possible.

Becoming a mother, remembering yourself

ubbaBubba

The ubbaBubba wrap

As a born and bred Capetonian, this is not easy to admit but….., we were overwhelmed by the friendliness of the people we met and found it very easy to engage in conversation. People seemed much more open to discuss Post Natal Depression and many interesting conversations were had and contacts made. It was also surprising how many partners and family members came and asked for pamphlets saying they thought their partner or daughter etc might be suffering from PND. It just goes to show how important it is to educate families as a whole as they can often pick up when things are not going well at home and may be the mom’s biggest support during the difficult times! Dad’s would often joke and say things like, “What about depression for the dad? Is there a pamphlet for me? When do I get my wife back?” all said with a smile and a laugh but one often wonders just how real these feelings can be in men and we agree that post natal depression does not just occur in women but can affect the man as well. For more information on this, please visit our website page http://www.pndsa.org.za/index.php/help-for-family/when-your-partner-has-pnd

It was also encouraging to see the response from mom’s when they read the first few lines on the pamphlet or saw our logo! The majority of responses went something like…”Oh yes…I better keep this, you just never know!” It was encouraging for two reason’s, the first in that people were aware of what PND was and the second that they understood it could happen to anyone at anytime and that they realised they might need help in the future!

Two of the commonest questions by far were; “What are the symptoms of PND?” and; “I had it with my first child, does this mean I will get it with my second child?”

The answer to the first question was easy enough but the answer to the second is more complicated.

The answer is unfortunately that if you had it with one child, you stand a higher chance of having it with subsequent pregnancies. However….this is not always the case and being aware of PND, a mom is able to monitor and manage the situation and treat it before it becomes a major problem.

We were also given a fantastic opportunity to be part of the Woolworths Speakers Corner. The PNDSA were offered a half an hour slot at 15h30. Debbie and Adri from the PNDSA Gauteng branch very graciously offered to speak. The topic was “Birth of a mother…Adjusting to the changes of motherhood.” This talk proved quite popular and all 3 of the talks were well attended. Thanks very much Adri and Debbie for your input, you girls did us proud!

Debbie speaking on PND

Woolworths Speakers Corner

Woolworths Speakers Corner

Woolworths Speakers Corner

All in all, Soweto proved to be quite successful and we hope many mom’s and their families were helped and educated during our time there.

At the end of the expo, we could not “bear” to say goodbye to “expo bear” and I am happy to report she decided to join the PNDSA Cape Town team and now takes charge of the office from her very comfortable arm chair. She will be making guest appearances at all future baby expos!

Expo Bear

Alnere

Debbie and Colleen

PNDSA will again be taking part in the Sandton Baba Indaba in October and the Baby Expo in November. Perhaps we will meet you there and feel free to bring us a cup of coffee to strengthen our tired legs!

Until later………

Takalani Sesame Audience

Takalani Sesame

SABC's Takalani Sesame Characters

Little ones enjoying activities at the Takalani Stand

Takalani Sesame Activity Centre

The Jelli Baf stand drew much attention

Arts and crafts

Fun on the water

The climbing wall