Wearing a happy mask: mother’s expressions of suicidality with postpartum depression
Abstract
Anywhere between 7% to 63% of mothers will experience postpartum depression (PPD) globally. Currently, the leading cause of maternal death after the birth of a child is suicide; the psychache or intolerable psychological pain that precedes suicide may have been exacerbated by PPD. Despite research quantitatively evaluating risk factors of suicidality for those experiencing PPD, less is known about the lived experiences of mothers who experience thoughts of self-harm in the postpartum period. This study utilized Qualitative Interpretive Meta-Synthesis (QIMS), to investigate the question “What are the lived experiences of mothers with postpartum depression who experience suicidality?” The purpose of this study was to synthesize the lived experiences specific to suicidal ideation in the postpartum period to highlight shared experiences to influence future research, PPD screening approaches, and clinical interventions. Results included six themes: 1. I wear a happy mask, 2. Motherhood is not as it seems, 3. Losing control, 4. Sinking ship, 5. Sleep makes it worse, and 6. Sharing stories and chores. A further theoretical reduction resulted in the alignment of the existing Interpersonal Theory of Suicide to postpartum depression-specific suicidality as a part of the results.
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The semi-structured interview form was designed by the research team in accordance with extant literature and refined according to recommendations of two faculty members with expertise in qualitative research.
“The form is an interview instrument designed by the research team in accordance with the extant literature [27–29] and comprises open-ended questions to elicit the experiences of mothers who have given birth in an obstetrics and gynecology hospital and are in the postpartum period with regard to postpartum depression. Once the questions had been formulated, they were refined in accordance with the”
From Understanding mothers’ lived experiences of postpartum depression: a qualitative phenomenological study (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
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Cirban Ekrem, E., Kurt, A., & Kilci Erciyas, Ş. (2025) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/s12884-025-08538-4 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Praetorius, R., Maxwell, D., & Alam, K.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Arlington (US)
- Corresponding author
- Praetorius, Regina
- Venue
- Social Work in Mental Health
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-06-19
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 429-459
- ISSN
- 1533-2985 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-2993
- OpenAlex
- W3035829271
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Work in Mental Health (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Keywords
- postpartum depression, suicidality, suicidal ideation, maternal mental health, interpersonal theory of suicide, self-harm, sleep disorders, motherhood, shared household responsibilities
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