As many as 75% of new mothers experience postpartum depression, according to global stats.
For Charity Horton, the experience was much more terrifying. At age 33, she and her wife, Sarah, welcomed the birth of their triplets Raine, Poppy and River.
But soon after giving birth, her nightmare started. She started experiencing terrifying hallucinations and felt like she turned into “schizophrenic overnight”, she told Britain’s The Mirror.
Her postpartum psychosis had her believing that wife Sarah and her mother-in-law were plotting to have her drugged.
“It was like I’d gone schizophrenic overnight. Even when I started sleeping I was obsessing over things,” she told the publication.
Charity was at her wit’s end and even went as far as trying to put her foot in scalding water to see if she could feel pain.
"I kept thinking people were testing me to see if I could cope. I thought my wife and her mother were watching me on the baby monitor to see if I made mistakes,“ she said.
“I thought they were hiding my medicine so they could drug me to make me stop talking.”
Thing went from bad to worse when Charity thought that her mother-in-law’s pet dog was going to eat her babies.
Worried by Charity’s state of mind Sarah and her mom Cheryl had her admitted for in-patient treatment.
Now on the road to recovery, Charity wants to share her ordeal to shine a light on postpartum psychosis.
“It’s rare, but be on the lookout for your family and friends; just be aware of what can happen. One minute you seem fine but the next you don’t know what’s going on,” she warned.
Postpartum psychosis can occur within a couple of weeks after giving birth, according to WebMD.
Symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, agitation, severe insomnia and paranoia.
If you or a family member is suffering from postpartum psychosis or depression, contact SADAG.