Foreword
Dr Bavi Vythilingum,FCPsych (SA), MMed (Psychiatry) (Stellenbosch) Senior Psychiatrist and Head, Division of CL Psychiatry and Women’s Mental Health, UCT ; Chair, PNDSA

When I first read this book, I cried. I cried for myself and for all women with postnatal distress who until now have felt alone. I cried because for the first time I felt understood; that someone knew exactly what it was like to have PND, and that here finally was not judgement, just acceptance.
Linda Lewis has written a book that explains postnatal distress in an easy-to-follow, approachable, yet powerful way. There have been many books written about PND, but what makes Linda’s unique is that she brings in both her professional experience as a therapist working with mothers suffering from PND, and her own experiences as a mother with PND.
This book is a lifesaver for any woman with PND as well as for her friends and family. It explains everything we want to say to you, our loved ones, but cannot either because we don’t know how or we ourselves don’t know what it is we are feeling. PND has been called the silent epidemic. About in one in ten women worldwide, and as many as one in three South African women, suffer from significant PND, yet we hear relatively little about it. That is because for most women with PND it is a source of extreme shame and guilt –motherhood is supposed to wonderful and everyone loves the new baby, so what’s wrong with me? Very few women seek help, suffering alone. And they aren not the only ones who suffer –their partners, children and families suffer too. Often this extends to the next generation. As Linda explains, many women battle with their own babies as a result of unresolved emotions they experienced as babies of mothers who themselves had PND. PND doesn’t just have emotional consequences, but physical ones as well. Women with PND are more likely to smoke and use alcohol and other drugs. Their babies are more likely to be small for their age and develop slower. Yet PND is so treatable, and the consequences for the family can be reversed through simple changes in family routine and interactions.
Through generously and courageously sharing their stories, Linda and her clients show that any woman can get PND, and that it is a disease, not a weakness of character. I have been privileged to read this book several times now. Each time I have taken something new from it. It has been a healing experience for me and has improved my ability to treat my patients. Ultimately this is a book about more than just PND. It is a book about motherhood – all the facets of motherhood, not just the greeting card smiles with which we are usually presented. I would recommend this book to every mother, whether you have experienced PND or not. All mothers know the down days, the exhaustion, the feeling of not being able to cope and the fear that you are a bad mother.
Linda’s book is an aid to every mother – it offers practical advice as well as support, comfort and perhaps most importantly the sure knowledge that the dark days will pass. This is the book I wish I had had when my children were born. To every mother out there I can only say – read it and you will be a better mother for having done so.
Linda Lewis has written a book that explains postnatal distress in an easy-to-follow, approachable, yet powerful way. There have been many books written about PND, but what makes Linda’s unique is that she brings in both her professional experience as a therapist working with mothers suffering from PND, and her own experiences as a mother with PND.
This book is a lifesaver for any woman with PND as well as for her friends and family. It explains everything we want to say to you, our loved ones, but cannot either because we don’t know how or we ourselves don’t know what it is we are feeling. PND has been called the silent epidemic. About in one in ten women worldwide, and as many as one in three South African women, suffer from significant PND, yet we hear relatively little about it. That is because for most women with PND it is a source of extreme shame and guilt –motherhood is supposed to wonderful and everyone loves the new baby, so what’s wrong with me? Very few women seek help, suffering alone. And they aren not the only ones who suffer –their partners, children and families suffer too. Often this extends to the next generation. As Linda explains, many women battle with their own babies as a result of unresolved emotions they experienced as babies of mothers who themselves had PND. PND doesn’t just have emotional consequences, but physical ones as well. Women with PND are more likely to smoke and use alcohol and other drugs. Their babies are more likely to be small for their age and develop slower. Yet PND is so treatable, and the consequences for the family can be reversed through simple changes in family routine and interactions.
Through generously and courageously sharing their stories, Linda and her clients show that any woman can get PND, and that it is a disease, not a weakness of character. I have been privileged to read this book several times now. Each time I have taken something new from it. It has been a healing experience for me and has improved my ability to treat my patients. Ultimately this is a book about more than just PND. It is a book about motherhood – all the facets of motherhood, not just the greeting card smiles with which we are usually presented. I would recommend this book to every mother, whether you have experienced PND or not. All mothers know the down days, the exhaustion, the feeling of not being able to cope and the fear that you are a bad mother.
Linda’s book is an aid to every mother – it offers practical advice as well as support, comfort and perhaps most importantly the sure knowledge that the dark days will pass. This is the book I wish I had had when my children were born. To every mother out there I can only say – read it and you will be a better mother for having done so.