It is common for moms to experience the “baby blues” – crying, sadness, difficulty sleeping, irritability – within the first few days to couple of weeks after having a new baby. However, when these symptoms last longer than two or three weeks, you may be suffering from “postpartum depression” (PPD). The latter requires professional consultation and treatment, and is not something that you should blame yourself for developing. In any case, if you are experiencing depression after the birth of your baby, please do NOT delay in getting treatment.
How many women are affected by postpartum depression?
Although many cases still go unreported, it appears that about 20% of moms develop it.
Why, at a time that most would celebrate the birth of a baby, do you feel depressed?
There can be many reasons, but here are some potential ones:
- Hormonal Changes:
Estrogen and progesterone hormones increase ten times during pregnancy, and then drop suddenly after birth. In fact, they are back to pre-pregnancy levels or even lower within three days of giving birth! Cortisol is another hormone that increases in pregnancy, and decreases dramatically after the baby’s birth.
- Major Lifestyle Changes:
If it is a first baby, it can be very stressful learning everything there is to know about caring for a newborn. Add lack of sleep and/or a colicky baby into the picture, and coping skills can dramatically be reduced.
If this is not your first baby, there can sometimes be guilt associated with not spending enough time with your older children as caring for the new baby may be taking away time away from them.
- Physical Changes:
It can be frustrating to hear about celebrities who are in their pre-pregnancy jeans within a week of giving birth! This is not the norm. In addition to weight gain, new mothers deal with the reality of permanent stretch marks, and the pain from vaginal deliveries or caesarean sections.
- Emotional Causes:
Many times, mothers-to-be have idealistic thoughts of how the pregnancy, labor and delivery, and post-pregnancy weeks are going to be, only to find out that many things do not go according to plan. For example, if a mother was planning on cuddling and bonding with her baby immediately after the birth, but the baby has to be rushed off due to unexpected medical reasons, this can be devastating.
Although all moms experience potential reasons to become depressed, not all do.
As in other physical and mental health disorders, there are particular risk factors for developing postpartum depression.
Risk factors for PPD include:
- History of depression prior to pregnancy or during pregnancy
- Family history of depression (often a biochemical predisposition)
- Previous history of postpartum depression after the birth of other children
- History of an eating disorder
- Lack of support from family, friends, and partner
- Age of the mother – Younger mothers are at increased risk
- The more children you have, the greater the risk of PPD
- Troubled relationship with your partner
In summary, up to 20% of moms will develop postpartum depression. There are several reasons why you may feel depressed after the birth, and risk factors that increase the chances of developing PPD. Arming yourself with this knowledge, can help you identify if you may be suffering from PPD, so that you can get help as soon as possible.