Mental health issues that could affect new mothers
Pregnancy and giving birth to a new child is a happy time in a woman’s life. However, 10 percent of pregnant women and 13 percent of women who have just given birth experience a mental disorder, says the World Health Organization. In developing countries, these percentages can be even higher.
The National Child & Maternal Health Education Program indicates pregnancy and a new baby can cause a range of emotions. Women may feel anxious or sad at various times. For many women, such feelings resolve with time. For others, these emotions may become more serious and persist.
BABY BLUES
The name given to a common postpartum condition can give people the impression that it is nothing to worry about. Although the “baby blues” are something new mothers may have heard about, and generally produce mild symptoms, they can still be disconcerting. This condition is marked by mood swings that are the result of fluctuating hormone levels during and immediately after childbirth. These feelings occur in up to 80 percent of new mothers, and occur approximately three to five days after delivery, says Mental Health America. Women whose blues do not resolve when hormones level out, and, in fact, get worse with time, may not realize they have progressed to postpartum depression, which is a more serious situation that often requires medical treatment.
POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION
Johns Hopkins Medicine says one in five new moms has postpartum depression, a serious, but highly treatable, condition. Postpartum depression is the most common complication of pregnancy and can be life threatening. Postpartum depression is a factor in 20 percent of all maternal deaths, says Lindsay Standeven, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins Center for Women’s Reproductive Mental Health. Those who are at risk for postpartum depression include women who have histories of anxiety or mood disorders, a family history of postpartum mood disorders, and activity of certain genes, known as epigenetic biomarkers. Postpartum depression can cause sadness, anxiety, anger, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and intrusive thoughts that may include thoughts of harming the baby.
POSTPARTUM PSYCHOSIS
In rare cases, women may experience postpartum psychosis, a condition that affects about one-tenth of one percent of new mothers, says MHA. Onset is quick and severe, usually within the first two to three weeks following childbirth. Symptoms include refusal to eat; inability to cease activity and frantic energy; extreme confusion; memory loss; incoherence; paranoia; and preoccupation with trivial things. Hospitalization may be considered for a woman with postpartum psychosis until her condition stabilizes.