The feelings of despair that can arise following the arrival of a baby - are they natural or a cause for concern?
To talk about post natal depression in relation to maternal ambivalence is highly sensitive, because many people regard post natal depression as a distinct diagnosis. But others point to the fact that those who have post natal depression talk about their difficulties in coping, of the pressure of expectation placed on mothers and, of hostile feelings towards their baby in ways which are similar to other mothers. Anna McNamee talks to Liz Wise who runs a support group for women with post natal depression. She also speaks to Cara Aiken - author of Surviving Postnatal Depression , and Angela Joyce - a psychoanalytic psychotherapist at the Anna Freud Centre Parent Infant Project, which was featured in a recent Channel 4 film entitled Help Me Love My Baby.
Jenni is then joined by Tina Miller - Reader in Sociology at Oxford Brookes University, Penelope Leach - Psychologist at the Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues at Birkbeck College and Trudy Seneviratne - Consultant Psychiatrist for the Mother and Baby Unit at the Maudsley Hospital in London.
Cara Aiken's Surviving Postnatal Depression: At Home, No One Hears You Scream is published by Jessica Kingsley, ISBN 978-1-85302-861-8.
