Post-Partum Depression Effects
Postpartum depression is very common, with 3 million new cases diagnosed every year. Most women feel sad or lonely right after giving birth, but it often goes away within 3-5 days. However, sometimes these feelings can last longer, and that is when it becomes postpartum depression. When a new mom gets treatment, her and her child will almost always be healthy and normal. However, when moms don’t get treatment for Postpartum depression, her and her baby can have negative consequences. We learned about one extreme consequence of untreated postpartum depression, in Andrea Yates, in which her postpartum psychosis lead her to kill all 5 of her children. Although not every case of Postpartum mental illness is this serious, the children are affected by any degree of depression following their birth.
Babies, in order to thrive, need eye contact, touch, and someone to speak to and play with them. Some mothers with depression or anxiety after birth may not be able to fully provide their children with all these things that they need, causing a lack of bonding, attachment, and normal development. These, among the other things that happen when a mother is depressed during the first months of their child's lives, can lead to negative effects. Not every mother with postpartum depression is a bad parent, and often these effects only come from lack of or not enough treatment, much like Andrea Yates.
The effects of postpartum depression in mothers can affect the children at every stage of their lives. Before birth, depression can cause low-birth weight, pre-eclampsia and miscarriages. In toddlers, as well as the previously mentioned depressive episodes, they also can have less creative play, less mature autonomy than usual, and not listening or doing what they are told. School-age and adolescents can have lower IQs, ADHD, phobias, panic disorders and other mental illnesses.
Comments
Post a Comment