SEVEN WEEKS after the birth of her first child Maria found that she was having a miserable time. She was not enjoying her new baby, she was not sleeping well, felt confused most of the time and cried easily about simple mishaps. She didn't understand what was happening to her, but mentioned her symptoms one day during a visit with her baby's paediatrician. The doctor explained that she could be suffering from postpartum "blues" or depression.
In some women childbirth carries with it the risk of mood changes. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) indicates that about the fourth week after delivery some women will experience the symptoms of postpartum depression.
This depression might be moderate to severe and begins slowly (maybe unnoticed) during the second to third week after delivery. It increases steadily for weeks to months and may resolve itself within a year. However, some new mothers may develop more than just the depression they develop a postpartum psychosis in which they have hallucinations and delusions about their newborn baby.
It is believed that mood changes in women are more likely to occur during periods of their lives when there are shifts in their reproductive hormones, such as during pregnancy, premenstrual periods and in the perimenopausal period. The Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine indicates that during pregnancy oestrogen and progesterone rise to peak levels then, rapidly decline within 24 to 48 hours after delivery. The Journal states that the neurohormonal hypothesis suggests that gonadal hormones trigger changes in the function of the brain's neurotransmitters, which then precipitates psychiatric symptoms.
The rapid decline in hormones, postpartum, is believed to alter the activity of the central nervous system and to cause psychiatric disorders in at risk women after they give birth. Treatment is available in the form of psychotherapy and/or antidepressants.
