Postpartum Depression

Overview

Postpartum depression or PPD can happen to mothers after delivery, though the severity may vary from mother to mother. The common symptoms include experiencing frequent bouts of crying, feeling frustrated, overwhelmed and helpless. In extreme cases, a mother might feel the urge to end her life or harm the baby. While there is no cure to it, it can be treated through counselling and medications.

What Is Postpartum Depression?

Postpartum depression or PPD is a type of depression that happens to mother after she gives birth. However, while it stems from the physical changes one undergoes, it can also happen to surrogates and adoptive parents. It is the emotional impact that one undergoes due to the hormonal, physical, mental, financial and social changes after having a baby. These changes cause symptoms for postpartum depression.

Types of Postpartum Depression

Postpartum blues or baby blues: This accounts for 50% to 75% of people after delivery. In this, mothers experience prolonged bouts of crying for no apparent reason, sadness and anxiety. It starts within the first week after delivery.

Postpartum depression: This is a far more serious than baby blues and affects 1 in 7 parents. You may experience alternating highs and lows, frequent crying, irritability and fatigue, as well as feelings of guilt, anxiety and inability to care for your baby or yourself. The symptoms range from mild to severe and can appear within a week of delivery, staying for about a year later.

Postpartum Psychosis: It is the extremely severe form of postpartum depression, affecting 1 in 1,000 women after delivery. This requires immediate medical attention, as this could lead to an increase risk of mother taking her own life or causing harm to the baby.

Symptoms of Postpartum Depression

How to recognise if you have postpartum experiences, note for these symptoms:

• Having crying spells
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Losing your appetite
• Having trouble sleeping
• Having sudden mood changes

There are factors like having a personal family history of depression, PMDD, limited social support, or marital conflict that may increase one's risk of being depressed after child birth.

If a mother undergoes an abortion, whether surgical or delivering a stillborn baby due to miscarriage, she too can experience emotional postpartum, hormonal shifts, bleeding and other postpartum symptoms.

Causes of Postpartum Depression

This happens due to the rapid drop in hormones after delivery, which links to depression. The level of estrogen and progesterone increase tenfold during pregnancy, but drop sharply after delivery.

In addition to that, there is also a change in mother's social and psychological environment, along with her physical body. All combined with lack of sleep, worries about parenting and changing relationship with your partner leads to postpartum depression.

Tests and Treatment for Postpartum Depression

While there is no specific test to diagnose postpartum depression, your healthcare provider can evaluate you at your postpartum visit. This evaluation may include your health history, how you have felt after delivery, along with physical exam, pelvic exam, and lab tests.

A series of questions may also be asked to conduct a depression screening. Many healthcare providers use the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to screen for postpartum depression. This contains 10 questions related to symptoms of depression such as feeling unhappy, anxious or guilty. A high score indicates possible postpartum depression.

Treating Postpartum Depression

Common treatments include anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications, psychotherapy (such as talk therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy), and joining support groups. However, the treatment also depends on the severity of the depression. There may be therapy or you may be prescribed antidepressants, depending on the gravity with which you are affected.

Postpartum psychosis, a more severe condition, often requires medications for depression, anxiety, and psychosis. In some cases, hospitalization may be necessary for a few days until stability is achieved. If standard treatments don't work, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can be a highly effective option.

If you’re breastfeeding it’s important to know that treatment options, including medications for depression, anxiety, or psychosis, are available.