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Britney: Postnatal Psychosis?
by Helen Grant - Celebrity events reporter
It's none of my business, and there's a chance I might be wrong, but I'm convinced Britney Spears suffered from postnatal psychosis, the mental illness that sent me to cloud cuckoo land after giving birth to Louise in 1993.
The illness is extremely rare, affecting less than 1% of new mums, but some of the crazy stuff Britney did, coupled with the fact that she gave birth to two children in a short space of time, her young age, and all the pressure with hubby and stardom, ring alarm bells.
I didn't shave off my hair, attack papparazi with my brolly or hold my kid hostage, but I did some crazy stuff like shop in my pyjamas and a rainmac, hide in cupboards when the doorbell rang, dye my hair flourescent red, fantasise about my doctor, accuse my neighbour of having an affair with Louise's dad, and chat to the characters on TV thinking they could hear me. I convinced a friend to help me escape from a mental hospital and tried to get my ex sectioned when he suggested I might be ill. Needless to say, all out of character.
It's essential women get help straight away if they don't feel right. Seriously, if you suspect someone you know is acting out of character, mention your fears to a professional, because undiagnosed psychosis can prove fatal.
The illness can start as soon as 48 hours after giving birth, due to the drastic drop in levels of oestrogen and progesterones. One of my doctors compared the drop in hormones after a woman gives birth to a million quid dropping to zero. That's why some women eat their placenta immediately after birth - because it's packed with hormones that replenish the body.
The early warning signs are similar to postnatal depression, which is a separate illness. Feeling down, exhausted, loss of interest in daily life, inability to concentrate or make decisions, change in character, agitation and unreasonable anger, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, thoughts of death, murder or suicide, inability to bond with baby and thoughts of harming or abandoning baby.
Left untreated, the symptoms can manifest into psychosis, which in most cases - like mine - include hallucinating, paranoia, anxiety and hearing voices. I saw gruesome images on my bedroom walls, shadows lurking behind doors that I thought were monsters come to chop me up. I'd think people were talking about me in code behind my back, including the guy on the radio.
Some women have murdered their kids and family members, thrown themselves in front of a train, stabbed their partners, and abandoned their babies outside shops and hospitals. Andrea Yates killed her five children by drowning them in a bathtub at her home. She had been suffering for years with severe postnatal depression and psychosis. Sheryl Lynn Massip drove her car over her 6 week old son, and Evonne Rodriguez strangled her 4 month old son with a rosary because she thought he was possessed by demons.
In the UK, postnatal psychosis is a defence for infanticide until a child is two, but in the US no such defence exists, and women tried for murder face life in prison or death. Women who've suffered from postnatal psychosis have a 50% chance of recurrence if they have another baby. The statistics put me off having more kids for 10 years, until I was 29 and decided to risk it. I've since had two more children and both times I was fine.
Most NHS doctors won't advise because it's not a prescriptive medicine, but what saved me after my subsequent pregnancies was natural progesterone, a cream available on the internet and via some private doctors, that works by pumping oestrogen and progesterone back into the body during the danger period i.e. from six weeks before until six weeks after giving birth. I wasn't taking any chances and rubbed the cream on my body until Abigail and Callum were three months old.
Natural progesterone cream should be dished out free to all pregnant and menopausal women.
Fellow advocate Dr Katerina Dalton would cheer in her grave because it not only drastically reduces the risk of postnatal depression and psychosis, but it also helps with weight loss, increases your sex drive, gives you glossy hair and glowing skin, and eliminates menopausal, anxiety and PMS symptoms. It's also rumoured to prevent and treat breast cancer.
For more info, read the book that saved my sanity, Depression After Childbirth: How To Recognise And Treat Postnatal Depression by Dr Katerina Dalton.
Useful websites include Postpartum Support International and Jenny's Light, a site set up by the family of Jenny Gibbs Bankston after she killed herself and her son Graham when suffering from postnatal psychosis. In the UK, the Association For Postnatal Illness has lots of useful information.
Oh, and you can buy natural progesterone cream here. Two jars should be enough to see you through the risk period. It doesn't affect breast feeding, but if you're taking any other medication, talk to your doctor or midwife first.