Article: When it's more than just the baby blues POSTNATAL depression is an upsetting and debilitating illness, but few people talk about it. June 6 will be the first ever Bluebell Day - part of an unprecedented campaign to raise awareness and to reduce the stigma of the condition. Here, two women share their experiences of it.

LUCY and Fatima had very different experiences of childbirth.

But both found themselves anxious, depressed, and lonely at a time which was supposed to be the happiest of their lives.

Postnatal depression is a debilitating and upsetting illness which affects around 11,000 women in Scotland today.

Sometimes called the "smiling depression" because the feelings are so difficult to share, it leaves mothers feeling guilty and isolated in the belief that everybody else is coping well.

It's different from the "baby blues" which affects around half of new mothers - they feel a bit weepy, flat and unsure of themselves on the third or fourth day, but it passes after a few days.

Despite postnatal ...

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