Childbirth is the most challenging process. It can be both joyful and stressful when going through immense physical, biological, emotional, and hormonal changes throughout her pregnancy. After childbirth, a mother can experience a set of mixed emotions. One of the emotions can be sadness and tearfulness which are called “baby blues,” and they gradually decrease over the first 2 weeks after childbirth. It is important for medical professionals to identify the risks of PPD while pregnant or postpartum as one in seven women can easily get PPD. Postpartum Depression(PPD) is a very common mood disorder that can occur to women during the trimester of their pregnancy(Etiology) or after childbirth. PPD tends to last longer, and it is hard to recover quickly from the harrowing experience. Many researchers and medical experts say that mothers having PPD go undiagnosed as they wish to keep it private. This conflict in privacy can result in the fear of lack of support and abandonment in their lives.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS:
After delivery, new mothers will get extremely fatigued, which can result in anxiety and mood changes, thus resulting in PPD. The signs include feeling depressed, anxiety issues, hopelessness, often sleep-deprived, and an immense feeling of losing interest in the things we used to enjoy before. Mothers also tend to detach from close friends and family, and even lose interest in taking care of the baby.
RISK FACTORS AND COMPLICATIONS:
The well-known fact of PPD is that it can put the mother-child relationship in jeopardy. This negative impact of mother-child bonding is called Prognosis. Due to the mother’s anxiety and trauma, the child can be treated indifferently and with a lack of care. Due to the factor of improper care to the child, it can result in a severe impact on the child’s growth both physically and emotionally from early infancy to adolescent period. In addition to that, it can also result in struggling with learning regular emotions, social interactions, and cognitive attitudes. This illness will be carried out till the end of time, which can result in bond detachment with the mother. It is very much essential to treat this illness, if left PPD untreated, it can significantly cause mental trauma, health decline, disconnection with the baby, struggle in the child’s growth, and even ideation to suicidal thoughts. As a mother, this has to be the last thing they could do for their child.
HOW TO DIAGNOSE PPD?
The mother must take immense care in understanding the effects of PPD. Because it can affect both the mother and the child, she must be educated and given a deep knowledge during the time of pregnancy. There are different ways to diagnose PPD.
Methods to diagnose PPD
- Screening
One of the methods is screening women for identification. The screening can help women to identify early symptoms and the level of risk. However, many Gynaecologists have concluded that screening recognizes PPD only for 50% of women and others go undetected resulting in women crying for help.
- PDPI
To detect PPD more accurately and efficiently, a prediction model called “The Postpartum Depression Predictive Inventory (PDPI)” was created. It contains 8 risk factors, and based on that, the model detects PPD development in women and the risk factors associated with it. As PPD can tend to start during the trimester, she must be well aware of the effects caused by it and the treatment to be done during prenatal time.
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT:
When dealing with such a harrowing experience, women with PPD won’t be able to figure out how to deal with it, resulting in feeling lonely, helpless and lost. However, this can still be treated with multiple available options.
Measures that can followed for PPD treatment
- Counselling
One of the options is attending various counseling sessions where women can meet people with similar conditions.
- Therapies
In addition to counselling, women can also try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as an alternative in which women can learn about PPD effects and educate themselves to channelize their emotional trauma.
- Childbirth Classes
Undertaking childbirth classes can also be an option for basic education on the facts on pregnancy and the possible issues caused by it before labor to help women in understanding the illness and dealing with proper management. Parents should be given positive lessons during these classes so that they can enhance the bond with their baby.
- Frequent Breastfeeding and positive thoughts
Breastfeeding and maternal sleep can also bring a reduction in anxiety issues. Happiness is a fundamental criterion during and after pregnancy. Positive thoughts and support must be given from close friends and family members to avoid high risks of PPD.
- Medications
Doctors sometimes also suggest medications like Sertraline and many others as antidepressants to treat depression and anxiety issues. It also helps in calming down the other symptoms.
- Holistic Method
If the mother doesn’t prefer medication or being social, holistic ways can also be another alternative to treat PPD. Yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, organic and herbal methods can be performed as treatment. These therapies and medications were given as basic advice from the health experts.
RESEARCH STUDY ON PPD
To decrease a higher risk of PPD, Randomized Control Trials(RCT) were conducted, where randomized women who are between 20 to 35 weeks pregnant were taken for the Interpersonal Therapy(IPT) study. Interpersonal Therapy is a treatment for Major Depressive Episodes (MDE). In both small-scale and large-scale studies, 99% of women showed a significant decrease in PPD within 3 months postpartum. Although this study has not been done under a large sample of adults who have a higher risk of developing PPD after delivery and to the time beyond 3 months postpartum. Despite being aware of this illness, many women don’t get treatment as they are not followed after childbirth. There would be no good if this is left untreated.
Postpartum depression is common and also curable. With many medications and therapies advised by different medical experts, there is no ideal medication as of now to detect and prevent women from having higher PPD risks. These beautiful pregnant women should get all the love and support from their near and dear ones as they go through drastic changes in their lives both physically and emotionally. As long as they get the love they deserve, no depression can harm them.
“Live life before you give life”
By Charlote S P
