Most parents have heard of postnatal depression, but did you know that symptoms can start during pregnancy? Prenatal depression can have a debilitating impact on the mother and heightens the risk of adverse birth outcomes, and yet there is still very little awareness of it, says Lebanese/ Australian expat Taghred Chandab, who is mum to four daughters aged 5, 12, 14 and 15.
While our neat cultural narrative is that women ‘bloom’ when they are expecting, Taghred says that for around 15% of mums-to-be like her, this could not be further from the truth. Here, the Dubai-based marketing director and social media influencer (@arabianmum) opens up about her experiences with prenatal depression and how she came out the other side…