Postpartum Depression - An Insight

Baby birth does not only lead to physical, but diverse emotional changes in the mother as well. The postpartum time is the combination of fear, excitement, happiness, and even depression for many.

The postpartum baby blues are known as Postpartum Depression in medical terminology and associated with social, chemical, and psychological changes in the new mother.

What’s Really Happening?

After the birth of a baby, there’s a sudden drop of different hormones in the body. What’s the connection between depression and this drop is not really known. The levels of female reproductive hormones, estrogen, and progesterone, are elevated ten folds in the body when a woman is pregnant. In the mere time of three days, just after the delivery, their levels go back to normal.

In addition to the chemical changes, the baby brings many social changes in the mother’s life as well which also lead to depression.

How to Treat Postpartum Depression?

The treatment of postpartum depression is possible with medicines and counseling.

Symptoms of Postpartum Depression:

The signs and symptoms of this psychological condition vary from one mother to another. Some common symptoms that are mistaken as the postpartum depression but are just baby blues and go away within a week or two after birth are:

• ·         Anxiety
• ·         Irritability
• ·         Mood swings
• ·         Crying
• ·         Appetite problems
• ·         Troubled sleep
• ·         Sadness

Symptoms of postpartum depression are:

• ·         Depressed mood
• ·         Extreme crying
• ·         Unusual appetite, either eating nothing or eating a lot
• ·         Withdrawal from family and friends
• ·         Not taking interest in baby
• ·         Intense anger
• ·         Fear of being a bad mother
• ·         The feeling of shame or guilt
• ·         Reduced ability to take a decision
• ·         Suicidal thoughts
• ·         Panic attack

Risk Factors of Postpartum Depression:

There are many things that increase the chance of getting postpartum depression:

·         Depression history before or during pregnancy

·         Young mothers tend to become more depressed than older ones

·         Limited social support

·         Marital issues

·         Living alone

·         The more children increase the chance of depression in a subsequent pregnancy