Baby Blues

Postpartum depression

Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a form of clinical depression which can affect women, and less frequently men, after childbirth. Studies report prevalence rates among women from 5% to 25%, but methodological differences among the studies make the actual prevalence rate unclear.


Postpartum Exhaustion (PPE)

PPE is caused by sleep deprivations coupled with hormonal changes in the woman's body shortly after giving birth and may be mild or severe. Most cases noted with women who have babies with severe colic or other underlying causes that keeps abnormal sleep schedules. Not the same as postpartum depression, but can be classified as a postpartum depression even though exhaustion is usually only caused from extreme fatigue. Medical treatment is minimal. Can last between 1 and 20 days and responds with getting adequate amounts of sleep.


Relation to baby blues


Baby or maternity blues are a mild and transitory moodiness suffered by up to 80% of postnatal women (and in some cases fathers who also suffer from the baby blues and/or postpartum depression). Symptoms typically last from a few hours to several days, and include tearfulness, irritability, hypochondriasis, sleeplessness, impairment of concentration, isolation and headache. The maternity blues are not the same thing as postpartum depression, nor are they a precursor to postpartum depression or postnatal psychosis.
Effects on the parent-infant relationship Postpartum depression may lead mothers to be inconsistent with childcare. Women diagnosed with postpartum depression often focus more on the negative events of childcare, resulting in poor coping strategies. There are four groups of coping methods, each divided into a different style of coping subgroups. Avoidance coping is one of the most common strategies used . It consists of denial and behavioral disengagement subgroups (for example, an avoidant mother might not respond to her baby crying). This strategy however, does not resolve any problems and ends up negatively impacting the mother’s mood, similarly of the other coping strategies used.


Prevention


Early identification and intervention improves long term prognoses for most women. Some success with preemptive treatment has been found as well. A major part of prevention is being informed about the risk factors, and the medical community can play a key role in identifying and treating postpartum depression. Women should be screened by their physician to determine their risk for acquiring postpartum depression. Currently, Alberta is the only province in Canada with universal PPD screening which has been in place since 2003. The PPD screening is carried out by Public Health nurses in conjunction with the baby's immunization schedule. Also, proper exercise and nutrition appears to play a role in preventing postpartum, and general, depression.


Postpartum psychosis


Postpartum psychosis or (also sometimes referred to as puerperal psychosis or postnatal psychosis), is a mental illness, which involves the rapid onset of psychotic symptoms in a woman following childbirth. Although sometimes confused with postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis is a different disorder and is much less common. Postpartum psychosis is also known as "postnatal stress disorder", because the patient is under emotional stress and exhibits unusual behavioral patterns not seen before their pregnancy or postpartum event. In clinical psychology it may also be diagnosed as a form of Brief Psychotic Disorder. The majority of cases occur within the first 2–4 weeks after childbirth with a classic 10–14 day meltdown, likely caused by the radical hormonal changes combined with neurotransmitter overactivity. When correctly diagnosed at the earliest signs and immediately treated with anti-psychotic medication, the illness is recoverable within a few weeks. If undiagnosed, even for just a few days, it can take the woman months to recover. In cases of postpartum psychosis, the sufferer is often unaware that she is unwell.