The Factors Triggering Postpartum Depression
September 18th, 2011
Women can suffer from postnatal depression on postpartum depression due to a number of factors. Depression symptoms that take place in women after their delivery is triggered by a combination of physical, lifestyle and emotional factors. Baby blues following child birth was never an uncommon condition; however, the term postnatal depression refers to a more severe condition. Postnatal depression lasts for a period of several weeks and the patient’s condition can get worse with time. According to recently obtained statistics, 10% of American women suffer from postnatal depression.
One of the primary causes of postnatal depression is the hormonal change occurring in the woman’s body during and after pregnancy. The levels of progesterone and estrogen rise during pregnancy and again drops back after the women gives birth. Women Health Guide refers to this change in hormonal levels as the primary cause of depression after delivery. There are evidences when the production of thyroid hormone in a woman’s body decreases significantly after childbirth. Decrease in levels of thyroid hormones might cause mental health disorders like anxiety, sleep disorders, mood changes and fatigue.
Genetic factors also make some women more susceptible towards developing postnatal depression. If you have history of mental health disorders in your family, you are more likely to develop postnatal depression. The doctor might ask you to go for psychological counseling for preventing depression following childbirth.
Women often become victims of postnatal depression anticipating the drastic changes in her lifestyle to be occurring following childbirth. Sleep deprivation, breastfeeding and disruption in daily routine can result in mood disorders. Lifestyle changes results in postnatal depression primarily in women who have given birth for the first time. Lack of a quality support system might also result in depression after childbirth.
New mothers often have a tendency of doing things that become taxing for their mental and physical health. They try to make them an ideal mom i.e. a mom who is perfect with all her works. While doing so, they end up getting anxious and stressed out, which eventually make them victims of postnatal depression. It’s true that while taking care of the new born, you must be absolutely perfect; but that doesn’t mean that this perfection will come at the cost of your own health. You must remember that for making sure that your baby is taken care of perfectly, you must stay physically and emotionally fit.
Failing to fall in love with the newborn is another common cause of depression among new moms; such cases of depression happens due to a feeling of guilt. One may also develop postnatal depression due to issues like still birth and birth defects.
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