Ada, Hong Kong

As soon as I got home from hospital, I felt lost. My life had changed completely and I wasn’t really ready for it. I didn’t know how to look after my baby and I was hardly sleeping. It was like an endless cycle of feeding, expressing milk and changing nappies.

My mom was there to help every day, but we soon started having arguments about how to do things. Like when the Maternal and Child Health Centre said not to use bath powder, but my mom kept using it. And when I wanted to use liquid soap to wash Chin Ching, but she wanted to use regular soap. Then she cooked me dried fish maw soup for supplement, but when I ate it I had trouble expressing. There was always something we disagreed about and our relationship got very tense. Then I was diagnosed with postpartum depression. I wasn’t able to control my own emotions, and sometimes I’d shout at her.

I didn’t like how I was feeling, so I figured out some ways to feel stronger. There is a traditional rule in Hong Kong that new mom should stay at home for a month and be looked after. But that wasn’t right for me. I decided instead to go walking for an hour each day, for relaxation, and then go home to take care of Chin Ching.