Postpartum Depression

Published: 2nd May, 2022

Context

Postpartum depression is linked to chemical, social, and psychological changes that happen when having a baby.

About

About Postpartum depression:

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a complex mix of physical, emotional, and behavioral changes that happen in some women after giving birth.
According to the DSM-5, a manual used to diagnose mental disorders, PPD is a form of major depression that begins within 4 weeks after delivery.
Most new mothers experience the “baby blues” after delivery.
About 1 out of every 10 of these women will develop a more severe and longer-lasting depression after delivery.
About 1 in 1,000 women develop a more serious condition called postpartum psychosis.
The chemical changes involve a rapid drop in hormones after delivery.
The actual link between this drop and depression is still not clear.
But what is known is that the levels of estrogen and progesterone, the female reproductive hormones, increased ten-fold during pregnancy.
Then, they drop sharply after delivery. By 3 days after a woman gives birth, the levels of these hormones drop back to what they were before pregnancy.
In addition to these chemical changes, the social and psychological changes of having a baby create an increased risk of depression.

Types of Postpartum Depression

There are three terms used to describe the mood changes women can have after giving birth:

The “baby blues” happen to as many as 70% of women in the days right after childbirth.
The baby blues may last only a few hours or as long as 1 to 2 weeks after delivery.
Usually you don’t need treatment from a health care provider for baby blues.
Often, joining a support group of new moms or talking with other moms helps.
Postpartum depression (PPD)can happen a few days or even months after childbirth. PPD can happen after the birth of any child, not just the first child.
You can have feelings similar to the baby blues — sadness, despair, anxiety, crankiness — but you feel them much more strongly.
PPD often keeps you from doing the things you need to do every day.
When your ability to function is affected, you need to see a health care provider, such as your OB/GYN or primary care doctor.
Postpartum psychosisis a very serious mental illness that can affect new mothers. This illness can happen quickly, often within the first 3 months after childbirth.
Women can lose touch with reality, having auditory hallucinations (hearing things that aren’t actually happening, like a person talking) and delusions (strongly believing things that are clearly irrational).
Visual hallucinations (seeing things that aren’t there) are less common.
Women who have postpartum psychosis need treatment right away and almost always need medication.
Sometimes women are put into the hospital because they are at risk of hurting themselves or someone else.

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