The chances are that if you go to any mother and baby groups you have already come across other sufferers who are putting on a brave face. If you think that typically 1 in 10 mothers will suffer with the illness there are going to be at least two if not three of you in any mother and baby group and that's not including mothers with older children who have already been through it. If you open up a little you may be suprised to hear that there are other mothers going through similar experiences all around you. A great deal of support can be found in just talking about it with people who understand because they've been there.

Sometimes it's the woman who seems to have it all who is the one suffering with PND. If that's you, try opening up to others rather than putting on a front and you may be surprised at how much better you feel. No one is perfect but if you have come from a high powered career it can be especially difficult to talk about your Illness when you have been in a competitive working environment. Motherhood isn't like that so rushing around giving the impression that you are the perfect mother will only put pressure on you. Give yourself a break, allow your human side to show, relax your standards a little and you will feel a lot better for it.

Of course you don't want your new friendships to be defined only by your Post Natal Depression so try to find other things to talk about as well as PND. As you recover you need to put distance between yourself and your illness which means you may need to take the lead in changing the subject of conversations, or not bringing up PND if you don't want to talk about it. Also, be wary of people who know you have PND and constantly bring it up every time you see them. Whilst this can be very supportive initially, as you recover you will find you don't want to be reminded of your PND every time you go out. It is a good idea to have a few people who you really open up to rather than talking about your illness with anyone who will listen.

Post Natal Depression support groups run by qualified counsellors can be very helpful, particularly for realising that you are not alone, but do be careful not to dwell on your illness too much as this can slow down your recovery. Coffee mornings which involve reliving your experiences and listing your symptoms can also set you back because to fully recover you need to put the experience behind you and get on with your life.

You should not try to support another woman who has acute PND while you are recovering yourself. However, providing mutual support as you both recover and even just knowing there are others going through it, who are on medication, or who have recovered and perhaps gone on to have other babies can be a great source of support and hope as you begin to feel better.