10 Things to Know about Postpartum Depression & Anxiety

1.  Postpartum depression and anxiety are the most common complications of childbirth are more common than hemorrhage and infection.

 

2.  Even though mood changes after giving birth have been known since the time of Hippocrates, most women and many health professionals don’t realize that depression and anxiety are a significant risk. Nearly 20 percent of new mothers will have some degree of depression and/or anxiety.

 

3.  Risk factors often predict postpartum depression. Factors may include previous depression or anxiety, major stressors, a mother’s concern for her health and her baby’s, premature birth, lack of emotional support at home, and a mother’s childhood emotional abuse or trauma.

 

4.  The symptoms of depression and anxiety have a biological basis and not related to the level of the mother’s ability to love her baby.

 

5.  Anxiety after delivery is more common than depression.

 

6.  There is a commonly used screening tool that all maternal-child health care providers can use to detect depression -the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.

 

7.  It is possible for anxiety and depression to start during pregnancy.

 

8.  It is important to recognize and treat women who are depressed after delivery; otherwise, a baby’s development can be affected by a mother’s depression.

 

9.  New fathers can have depression after delivery, too.  Most clinicians will ask new fathers to join a treatment session if his wife is being treated for depression or anxiety.

 

10.  The good news is: most women respond quickly to treatment and will feel better within a few weeks.

I was sent the book ‘Overcoming Postpartum Depression and Anxiety’ to review. I needed this book when I had my first child! It is filled with information about overcoming postpartum depression and anxiety. It is so helpful and I will be passing it along to a friend, in need.

About The Author

Linda Sebastian, an advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) has specialized in women’s mental health concerns, especially for pregnant and postpartum women for the past thirty years.

She is in private practice in Fort Myers, Florida. As a former director of the Women’s Program at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, Ms. Sebastian was instrumental in developing the perinatal psychiatric disorders program and educated many health professionals about postpartum depression and anxiety.  The Women’s Program at Menninger was recognized nationally several times for its treatment of depression in women.

Ms. Sebastian received a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing from Kansas University.  She graduated from Wesley School of Nursing in Wichita, Kansas.  She is the author of numerous professional journal articles and has been a featured speaker at conferences in the United States and China.

Buy

You can purchase the book ‘Overcoming Postpartum Depression and Anxiety’ online at Amazon.com.