I’m currently pregnant and due in less than two weeks. It’s my second child, so I’m not as worried about caring for a newborn as I was the first time around. But one nagging worry I have is the risk of postpartum depression, sometimes called postnatal depression. I have a family history of depression and that puts me at higher risk. Luckily, it wasn’t a problem with my firstborn, but it can crop up in later pregnancies - and scientists don’t entirely understand the reasons for it.
Postpartum depression usually hits four to six weeks after delivery—though it can show up months later. It’s characterized by feeling overwhelmed, trapped, guilty or inadequate, along with crying, irritability, problems concentrating, loss of appetite or libido, or sleep problems. An estimated 9 to 16 percent of new mothers are affected by postpartum depression. Even men are known to suffer from it sometimes. PPD affects not just the mother (or father), but can have lasting effects on the child as well, so helping these parents through a difficult and isolating time is critical
Now, a study published in Journal of Advanced Nursing shows that providing a social network for new moms, via phone calls from other mothers who had recovered from PPD, could alleviate symptoms for moms in the study for up to two years after delivery. A news release summarized the findings:
For the present quasi-experimental study, researchers recruited 64 mothers with depression up to two years after delivery who were living in New Brunswick. Peer volunteers who recovered from postnatal depression were trained as peer support and provided an average of nine support calls. The average age of mothers was 26 years, with 77% reporting depressive symptoms prior to pregnancy and 57% having pregnancy complications. There were 16 women (35%) who were taking medication for depression since the birth.
I find the idea that this insidious problem could be tackled with a phone version of the ubiquitous and valuable moms' groups an uplifting one. Compared to drug treatments, regular phone calls from a peer who's gone through something similar is a relatively cheap treatment. Further studies are needed, but I'll be watching to see whether this approach takes hold as a standard intervention for PPD.
Previously: “2020 Mom Project” promotes awareness of perinatal mood disorders, Is postpartum depression more of an urban problem?, Helping moms emerge from the darkness of postpartum depression, Breastfeeding difficulties may lead to depression in new moms, and Dads get postpartum depression, too
Image by Van Gogh
