Postpartum Depression Case Studies

Postpartum depression is one of the most common complications of childbearing with an estimated prevalence of 19.2% in the first three months after delivery (1). Depressive episodes (major and mild) may be experienced by approximately half of women during the first postpartum year (1). Characterized by depressed mood, loss of pleasure or interest in daily activities, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, irritability, sleep and eating disturbances (2), its etiology is multi-faceted and complex (3;4).

Borra, C., Iacovou, M., & Sevilla, A. (2015). New Evidence on Breastfeeding and Postpartum Depression: The Importance of Understanding Women 's Intentions. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 19(4), 897-907. doi:10.1007/s10995-014-1591-z

The postpartum period is about going through change and transition from a woman to a new mother. This is a time where mothers restore muscle tone and connective tissue in the body after the birth of the baby. Although there is a dramatic change during the postpartum period, women’s body is nonetheless not fully stored to pre-pregnant physiology until about 6 months post-delivery (Osailan, 6). At this time, women need to receive special health and social support to prevent problems such as postpartum depression. During this period, culture plays a major role in the way a woman perceives and prepares for her birthing experience. In fact, the notions of birth and postnatal care vary considerably with cultural beliefs and traditional practices. Each culture has its own values, beliefs and practices related to pregnancy and birth (Osailan,1). In the United States, after a short hospital stay, moms and babies are sent home because it is expected for mothers to heal within 42 days after giving birth. Whereas in other societies like Mexico, the postpartum recovery is active long enough until the new mother is fully healed (Brenhouse). In the article, “Why Are America’s Postpartum Practices So Rough on New Mothers?” by Hilary Brenhouse, the author states, “With these rituals comes an acknowledgment, familial and federal, that the woman needs relief more at this time than at any other—especially if she has a career to return to—and that it takes weeks, sometimes months, to properly

I believe that mental health is not well discussed, or known, in today’s culture. People could struggle with mental health daily and others could have no idea. There are many different types of mental health issues, and one specific issue that is rarely discussed is postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is a specific type of depression that new mothers can experience after the birth of their child. (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, Nock, 2012). The changing hormones a mother can experience directly after birth cause this condition. Postpartum depression can cause a mother to feel sad, guilty, and even experience thoughts of suicide. Postpartum depression may be discussed in the text, but the causes and even the treatments are not.

This journal article focuses on postpartum depression and how it differentiates from other disorders. This paticuarl article however focuses on defining the different types of depression within this catagorey and looks into clinical involvement as well as recognsisng risk elements and sysmtoms that allow it to be characterized from other mood and anxiety disorders. Beck (2006) finds that persons who where most at risk of this disorder most commently had stressful lives, with a history of mental illness. This article also concludes that postpartum depression can lead into server physosi, which is in need of immediate intervention and that this mental state can lead women to be dangerous to themselves of there children and clearly states that they should never be left alone. Overall this article is paticually usuful as a researcher as it clearly describes the differences in distinguishing the types of depression as well as the servierty of postpartum depression which can be underrecognsied.

Postpartum depression, which is the most prevalent of all maternal depressive disorders, is said to be the hidden epidemic of the 21st century. (1) Despite its high prevalence rate of 10-15% and increased incidence, postpartum depression often goes undetected, and thus untreated. (2) Nearly 50% of postpartum depression cases are untreated. As a result, these cases are put at a high risk of being exposed to the severe and progressive nature of their depressive disorder. (3) In other words, the health conditions of untreated postpartum depression cases worsen and progress to one of their utmost stages, and they are: postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder, postpartum panic disorder, postpartum post traumatic stress, and postpartum psychosis.

As mental health in America is finally being addressed and more research is seen, it is important to look at the potential causes or correlations that lead to common diagnoses for patients. According to Brummelte and Galea (2010), “depression affects approximately 1 in 5 people, with the incidence being 2-3x higher in women than in men.” Postpartum depression (PPD), a subset of this debilitating disease, has an estimated prevalence rate of 13-19% with another estimated 50% that are undiagnosed (O’hara and McCabe, 2013). As a whole, it has the same symptoms as major depressive disorder but diagnosis occurs within 0-4 weeks of giving birth (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Part of this lack of diagnosis is due to a multitude of healthcare

The Center for Disease Control estimates that 1 in 20 people suffer from depression (2014). Although widely recognized and somewhat easy to diagnose, depression is an ignored and almost hidden, disease. In women, the statistics are especially grim for those who are pregnant or were recently pregnant. A great number of women suffer from postpartum depression; an illness which is often overlooked, misdiagnosed and untreated. Postpartum depression (PPD) has been defined as an emotional disorder that occurs in an estimated 10-15% of all women after childbirth (Liberto, 2010). Postpartum depression not only impacts the mother, but can cause long-term psychological challenges for the baby and create emotional turmoil for all family members.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, women were treated in a far different manner than they are in today’s time. Their role as a woman and the way they were treated in the medical department has been a major change from then to now. In some cases, the role that women were expected to partake in could have been the cause of depression and many other mental illnesses. Many factors will support this claim due to the roles that were enforced on women in the early 1900’s. For many women in this time period, were expected to be stay at home mothers and take care of the children. With the lack of individual freedom, women would have become tired of their roles and desired for more. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator was fixed in her own

Postpartum depression is a type of depression that women can experience after giving birth. It is similar to depression, but women also experience thoughts of harming the baby, feeling disconnected, or in general worry that they are not being a good mother (Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, 2013). When it comes to seeking help for this, most women can feel ashamed of what they are experiencing and may not seek the proper help they need. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on postpartum depression and how it relates to John Bowlby’s theory of attachment. Bowlby’s theory focuses on the attachment being an innate and that mothers and infants need to stay close with one another (McLeod, 2007). As an advanced practice nurse, being able to understand, diagnose and treat women with postpartum depression is important as if diagnosed early, it is a very treatable illness with positive outcomes.

In order to fully understand the narrator’s condition, it is essential to fully understand who she is, what her context is, and the mental disorder she is suffering from. Through her secret diary, we learn about the narrator’s experiences as a newlywed suffering from Postpartum Depression and the unhelpful advice of her husband John, who doubles as her doctor. The mental disorder the narrator is dealing with is called Postpartum Depression; a mental illness affecting 1 in 7 women in the United States alone, causing symptoms such as anxiety, excessive crying, changes in appetite, harmful or “scary thoughts,” and many more of the unusual actions portrayed by the narrator in her journal (“Postpartum Depression”). These symptoms are evident

“Paula Thompson was arrested on December 12, 2014, after her mother-in-law found her in a bathroom with the twins, who were wet, fully clothed and crying. Authorities said Thompson told sheriff's deputies she wanted to kill the children. She was sent to the University of California, Los Angeles, Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital for evaluation and was also ordered to perform 160 hours of community service, undergo psychiatric care and notify the court if she changes her physician."I would like nothing more than to get in my car, drive home and see my children," Thompson said outside court. "But they want to make sure I'm well. I want to make sure I'm well." While Thompson and her husband John, both knew she was suffering from postpartum

People lose interest in things they used to enjoy and may withdraw from others.” While the CMHA does not explicitly note in its definition that both men and women may experience this mental illness, its use of the words “some” and “people,” instead of women, can be seen as suggesting that both sexes are susceptible. The assertion that both men and women can experience postpartum depression is corroborated by a study done by Escribà-Agüir and Artazcoz (2011). Despite the position of these two sources, Thurtle (1995) explicitly notes that diagnosis of postpartum depression should be “restricted to mothers with a depressive illness,” asserting that this pathology exclusively affects women. Being that Thurtle’s study was published in 1995, within a decade of researchers beginning to study sex differences, and similarities, and only a year after women were allowed to participate in biomedical research, it is likely that they did not consider investigating the illness through a gendered lens.

According to Kimani (2016) postpartum depression is a mood disorder that has an affect on 10-15% of women worldwide. Symptoms of postpartum depression include sleep deprivation, low energy, a feeling of loss control over life, and anxiety of caring for the infant. Therefore, postpartum can result in the infant being underweight, and or stunt their growth. This study correlated that low-income women are more likely to experience postpartum depression.

Mothers who have brought into this world a blessing have been preparing themselves for a big change in their life. They have been learning and educating themselves about how to be a good mother. Many mothers find it really hard to transition from being an independent woman without children to becoming a mother (Corrigan, Kwasky, & Groh, 2015). Adapting to motherhood can be a drastic change, and usually creates challenges that lead to feeling overwhelmed (Leger & Letourneau, 2015). When a newly mother begins experiencing stress or becomes emotional then there can be a possibility that they can encounter Postpartum Depression (Leger et al., 2015). Postpartum depression can be seen and experienced in many different ways, it all varies on every mother (Corrigan et al., 2015). Many different mental health issues can be seen including baby blues, postpartum depression, postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the most serious, postpartum psychosis (Tam & Leslie, 2001).