6 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Treatment if You Have Postpartum Depression
PregnancyPostpartum Depression

6 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Treatment if You Have Postpartum Depression

6 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Treatment if You Have Postpartum Depression
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Published on August 24, 2026
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Postpartum depression (PPD) is treatable, but finding the right treatment — and getting the most benefit from it — can take some time.

Treatment options may include prescription medications, psychotherapy (talk therapy), lifestyle changes, and social support — or a combination of these — but there isn’t one single approach that works for everyone. Your healthcare team will work with you to shape your treatment plan depending on your symptoms and circumstances.

What you do alongside your treatment matters, too. Certain strategies can help you get the most out of your treatment. Here are six expert tips on how to do that.


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1. Track Your Symptoms and Communicate With Your Healthcare Team

Communicating openly about your symptoms, how they’re affecting your daily functioning, and how you’re responding to treatment is crucial, says Lulu Zhao, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist and the codirector of women's behavioral health at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where she specializes in mood disorders during key reproductive transitions, such as pregnancy and postpartum.

Your healthcare provider can only work with the information you give them. “If you don’t tell us, we’re not going to know. That transparency and communication is very key,” Dr. Zhao says.

Keep a record of your symptoms, along with other factors such as how much you’re sleeping, how much you’re eating, your stress levels, and what happened that day, says Laudy Burgos, LCSW, a board member of Postpartum Support International and the associate director of social work in the women’s and children’s division at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

“Track, just for three days, what you do in the day, when your symptoms are worse, when they’re better,” Burgos says. “Tracking is important, not just to get treatment and medication, but also for your therapist to really help you. It gives [them] key information.”

You may begin to notice patterns, such as symptoms consistently worsening in the morning after your partner leaves for work, Burgos says. You may also note how stressors like job loss, marital struggles, or a lack of social support are affecting you — all of which are risk factors for PPD, she says.

2. Give Medication Time to Work

It can feel discouraging to start an antidepressant and not immediately feel better, but it can take time for these medications to work.

Antidepressants often don’t take effect immediately, Burgos says. “Sometimes people get frustrated if after two days they don’t see a difference,” she says.

Instead, you may notice small changes, such as slightly better sleep or energy, within one to two weeks, she says. But noticeable improvements in mood may take between four to eight weeks. And at the eight-week mark, your provider will have a clearer idea of how effectively a medication is working.

There’s also an important caveat to keep in mind: A true medication trial means taking an appropriate therapeutic dose for long enough to see how it’s affecting you, Zhao says. Starting doses are sometimes deliberately low to reduce initial side effects, which are common with antidepressants, and then increased shortly after by your provider, she says.

Don’t increase, decrease, or stop medication on your own. Talk with your healthcare provider about side effects or symptoms so they can decide whether increasing or lowering the dose, switching antidepressants, or adding therapy may help, Zhao says.

3. Try Talk Therapy

Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, is considered the first-line treatment option for people with mild to moderate PPD, making it a fundamental part of treatment. In moderate to severe PPD, it’s often paired with medication.

“There are many people that, with just talk therapy, they get better in a few months,” Burgos says. For PPD, she often recommends cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT) in particular.

Worrying that you’re not a good parent is a common symptom of PPD.

 “CBT helps you identify and change those negative thought patterns and behaviors,” Burgos says. “With IPT, we focus on adjusting to your new roles and working on relationships,” she says.
Other forms of psychotherapy can be beneficial too, Zhao says. For example, if you had a traumatic birth experience, an evidence-based therapy called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) may be helpful for you. During EMDR, a trained therapist helps you process traumatic memories while moving your eyes in certain ways, which is thought to help reduce the vividness and intensity of those memories.

 Couples therapy is another option that can help postpartum parents.

As with medication, it’s important to give therapy time to work. You may feel improvements after roughly 6 to 12 weekly sessions, which generally last 45 minutes to an hour each time, Burgos says.

And if you don’t click with your first therapist, that doesn’t mean therapy isn’t for you. Sometimes the therapist or approach simply isn’t the right fit.

4. Ask for Support From Others

Social support can make it possible to actually follow your treatment plan, Burgos says. “It doesn’t replace therapy or medication, but social support can significantly reduce those [PPD] symptoms and improve the treatment outcomes.”

Support can come from a partner, relatives, friends, parent groups, or community resources. Burgos recommends seeking practical help with feeding, diaper changes, meals, chores, and taking care of older siblings, as well as opportunities to connect with other parents who understand what the postpartum period is like.

Without this practical support, you may struggle with things like attending a doctor’s appointment, catching up on sleep, or taking time to care for yourself — all of which can make recovery harder.

5. Try to Make Time for Sleep and Movement

Alongside professional PPD treatment, getting enough sleep and moving your body can support your overall recovery.

“A lot of moms are getting one to three hours at a time and that’s just not enough,” Zhao says.

Research suggests that women with moderate or severe PPD benefit from protecting one four- to five-hour block of consolidated nighttime sleep.

 That may be difficult to do for some parents, says Zhao, but her rule of thumb is to aim to do that at least once every three nights if possible.
Aerobic exercise (aka cardio) may also help reduce PPD symptoms, especially when it’s done consistently.

 Going to the gym may be hard for time-strapped parents, but physical activity can also look like taking the baby for a stroller walk, following a workout video on YouTube, or joining a group fitness class, Burgos says.

6. Try to Carve Out ‘Me-Time’

Finding time for yourself when you’re taking care of a newborn may sound unrealistic, but it doesn’t have to mean an entire afternoon away.

Burgos often encourages her patients to start small — 30 minutes to an hour while a partner or another trusted person cares for the baby. During that time, you could take a walk in the park, get a coffee, call a friend, or simply eat your favorite meal without interruptions.

“Being with a baby is like a full-time job,” she says. Even half an hour to eat, nap, or regroup can help. “It’s about refilling your own cup.”

Think of it less as indulgence and more as giving yourself a chance to refuel.

Crisis Prevention

If you or a loved one is experiencing significant distress or having thoughts about suicide and needs support, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.

For more help and information, see these Mental Health Resources and Helplines.

Resources We Trust

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Carlson K et al. Perinatal Depression. StatPearls. January 22, 2025.
  2. Miller S et al. Treatment and Management of Mental Health Conditions During Pregnancy and Postpartum. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. June 2023.
  3. Modak A et al. A Comprehensive Review of Motherhood and Mental Health: Postpartum Mood Disorders in Focus. Cureus. September 29, 2023.
  4. Postpartum Depression. Anxiety & Depression Association of America.
  5. Postpartum depression: Symptoms & causes. Mayo Clinic. November 24, 2022.
  6. Hendrix YMGA et al. Treatment of traumatic birth experience with postpartum early eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy: A randomized clinical trial. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. December 2025.
  7. Leistikow N et al. The Role of Sleep Protection in Preventing and Treating Postpartum Depression. Seminars in Perinatalogy. October 2024.
  8. Xu H et al. Effectiveness of Aerobic Exercise in the Prevention and Treatment of Postpartum Depression: Meta-Analysis and Network Meta-Analysis. PLoS One. November 29, 2023.
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Angela D. Harper, MD

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Angela D. Harper, MD, is in private practice at Columbia Psychiatric Associates in South Carolina, where she provides evaluations, medication management, and psychotherapy for adul...

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