Postpartum Depression Can Affect Many New Moms

A new mother faces a number of challenges after her baby is born, especially if it is her first child. During the first three months, and especially the first 10 to 19 days, a new mom is particularly vulnerable to mental problems. Not only postpartum depression, but potentially bipolar disorder (experiencing highs and lows), anxiety, adjustment problems, and even schizophrenia can visit her at her most vulnerable time.

Today, a woman may be isolated, away from the support of families that she might have called upon in generations past. Her hormones are fluctuating wildly during those first weeks and months after birth. Sleep deprivation and learning to breastfeed on demand may place additional strains on her ability to function and interact lovingly with her newborn.

When the tremendous responsibility of caring for an infant becomes a daily reality, a new mother may experience unanticipated feelings. She needs a strong support system to help her get past the initial “baby blues.” Her mental health greatly affects her ability to function well, enjoy relationships, cope with the stresses, and appreciate the joys of parenthood that she anticipated.

A Danish study based on medical records of 2.3 million people over a 30-year period revealed that new mothers were seven times more likely to be hospitalized for mental problems shortly after childbirth than women with older infants. Some received outpatient psychiatric treatment.

New fathers are sometimes affected by the mental adjustments in the changed family dynamics, but they are not subjected to the same physical and social changes associated with actually giving birth to a child. The prevalence of mental disorders appeared in about 1 per 1,000 births for women and only .37 per 1000 men in the Danish families studied.

There is no hard data on women in developed countries worldwide affected by postpartum depression, but in the U.S. alone, this condition occurs in about 15% of new mothers. Most had no previous history of mental illness.

Psychiatric screening of new mothers and treatment for those who need it would be highly beneficial. They may initially need antidepressant medications to help them get past the most difficult periods of adjustment. Brooke Shields’ book on the subject can assist depressed new mothers in understanding that they are not alone, and their condition will clear up with time and with treatment when necessary.

Source:  CNN.Com

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