Postpartum depressed mothers' experiences interacting with their children.

A phenomenological study was conducted to investigate the meaning of postpartum depressed mothers' interactions with their infants and older children. A purposive sample of 12 mothers participated. Nine theme clusters emerged when the formulated meaning were organized into categories. Participants were overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for their children. Guilt, irrational thinking, loss and anger filled their day-to-day interactions with their children. Mothers went through the motions, acting like robots while caring for their infants. At times, to survive, they erected a wall to separate themselves emotionally from their children and consequently failed to respond to their infants' cues. Detrimental relationships with their older children materialized as mothers were enveloped by postpartum depression.