Teen mum suffering from postpartum depression kills herself
Saffie had been suffering from depression, and found it hard to cope with motherhood
All Saffie Johnson wanted in life was to be a wife and a mother. Even at an early age, that’s what she’s always dreamed of. So when she met Daniel Johnson, they immediately married despite knowing each other a total of two weeks.
“I suggested waiting because Saffie was very young at just 17,” Daniel told the inquest, “but she was adamant. She was young, but she had her own mind and knew exactly what she wanted out of life.”
Saffie was 17, Daniel 20.
At the beginning, things went smoothly.
She finally had a baby and was living the life she wanted. But soon trouble began to permeate the marriage.
Saffie had been suffering from depression, and found it hard to cope with motherhood. Soon she separated from Daniel and moved back to her mother, brother, and step father.
Then one day, she left a note in her pink diary.
“Today I will die,” it said.
Her brother found her lifeless body as he arrived home from college; Saffie had hanged herself.
“Police examined Saffie's diary following the tragedy in October last year to find notes to loved ones and she had also penned a letter to be given to her one-year-old son on his 18th birthday,” reports said.
“I tried as best I could to help her to overcome her depression but the pressure of having a baby was too much for her,” Daniel said. “Saffie never told anybody how she was really feeling, she told them what she thought they wanted to hear."
Postnatal depression
Postnatal depression is a common problem affecting more than 1 in every 10 women within a year of giving birth.
Symptoms include: a persistent feeling of sadness and low mood, lack of enjoyment and loss of interest in the wider world, lack of energy and feeling tired all the time, difficulty bonding with your baby, withdrawing from contact with other people, frightening thoughts—for example, about hurting your baby.
If you suspect that you have it, it's important to seek help as soon as possible as symptoms could last months or get worse and have a significant impact on you, your baby and your family.
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