A Quebec woman said a postpartum nurse repeatedly pushed a depression diagnosis on her despite her objections, eventually calling child protective services, according to Reddit posts she shared.
The woman shared her account across two posts in r/GirlDinnerDiaries. In the first post, the woman shared a picture of her lunch, which was served on her toddler’s plate. She said that a nurse had been following up on her postpartum by regularly visiting her to check on her mental health.
The woman wrote, “She points to the messy apartment and says that's a sign of PPD. I tell her it's messy cause we are struggling to find time to clean since this is our second baby and we have no help; she still pushes it, claims if I'm not cleaning up then I must be depressed.”
Despite explaining that a lack of sleep was making it difficult to keep up with cleaning, the woman said the nurse continued to push the PPD diagnosis. She also said, “And yes, my husband is helping, but we are stretched thin; it's one adult per kid right now, he's looking after our toddler (who is going through sleep regression and hates being awake cause of teething), and I'm handling our newborn, and her feeds, which are like every 2 hours if not more.”
Under pressure from the nurse's repeated visits, she said she began cleaning from 5 a.m. when both children were asleep. “I'm literally starting at 5 am to clean cause that's usually when both babies are asleep. My husband handles trash and cooking; I clean the kitchen and living room, playroom.” She said the house would become messy again after her toddler woke up, while the kitchen would also need cleaning after her husband cooked.
According to the woman, the nurse arrived during that window and immediately said, “It's still dirty. I'm pushing for you to see a psychiatrist, but she doesn't speak your language, so I'll come to the appointments and translate for you. I've told her you have PPD.”
She ended her first post by writing, “I get wanting to be on top of mental health for postpartum folks, I do, but this felt so sexist and targeted. She immediately assumed I'm the one who is supposed to clean everything, like wtf? Up until recently, it was my husband's chore to clean everything, and also we are struggling to keep up with 2 kids. I'm sorry, we have no help; we are on our own. I'm not depressed; I'm just poor and can't afford a cleaner, my gosh.”
In her second post, the woman said that the nurse arrived with a caseworker one day and accused her husband of being a “deadbeat father.” This was after they found out that he fed chocolate milk to their newborn. Later, the woman said, “I waited till they left to give them a text telling them they aren't welcome anymore in my household. That their comments were extremely disrespectful, rooted in sexism and bias against me.”
She said the nurse had called CPS, citing what the woman described as "urgent concerns." and they even pushed her “mental health” again. She ended the post by writing, “At this rate it feels like if I fake having PPD I'll be left alone sooner.”
The post had several comments from people around the world supporting her. One user wrote, “Sorry to the people shaming and blaming you. I read your first post, and this lady is clearly just out on a power trip. This is a scary situation for you, and you definitely don't deserve people piling on you on the internet just because they think no medical practitioners ever mistreat people.”
Another user wrote, “She’s a nurse, not a physician. She is not qualified to diagnose you or anyone, for that matter. You can file a complaint to her licensing board for acting out of scope. Ask for a new nurse.”
This article is based on posts shared in r/GirlDinnerDiaries on Reddit. The Daily Dot could not independently verify the events described, the identity of the poster, or the conduct of the nurse or caseworker involved. The nurse and child protective services were not contacted for comment.
