Untreated depression in new mothers hinders babies’ brain development and screenings for postnatal depression should be more prevalent for mothers, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in a paper recently published in the medical journal Pediatrics.
More than 400,000 babies every year are born to mothers who have symptoms of depression, which makes postpartum depression the most underdiagnosed obstetric issue in the United States, the AAP said. Around one in eight pregnant or perinatal women suffer from depression, and about half of low-income new mothers have symptoms of depression.
In addition to jeopardizing the child, undiagnosed depression in mothers could result in expensive and unsuitable medical diagnoses and care and family dysfunction. “Perinatal depression may be comorbid with marital discord, divorce, family violence (verbal and/or physical), substance use and abuse, child abuse and neglect, failure to implement the injury-prevention components from anticipatory guidance (eg, car safety seats and electrical plug covers), failure to implement preventive health practices for the child (eg, Back to Sleep), and difficulty managing chronic health conditions such as asthma or disabilities in the young child,” the authors wrote. Back to Sleep means putting infants to sleep on their backs so that they are safer from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, (SIDS).
To combat perinatal depression, the AAP recommended that pediatricians develop processes to screen the mothers of young children and to utilize community resources to help fight the malady. “The primary care pediatrician, by virtue of having a longitudinal relationship with families, has a unique opportunity to identify maternal depression and help prevent untoward developmental and mental health outcomes for the infant and family,” the authors said.
“Screening can be integrated … into the well-child care schedule and included in the prenatal visit. This screening has proven successful in practice in several initiatives and locations and is a best practice for [primary care providers] caring for infants and their families,” the AAP said. “Intervention and referral are optimized by collaborative relationships with community resources and/or by colocated/integrated primary care and mental health practices.”
In short, depression both weakens families and can make mothers unable to care for their children, and doctors should find out if mothers are suffering from serious unhappiness. According to the Centers for Disease Control, depressed mothers are willing to get help if their depression is identified.
More than 400,000 babies every year are born to mothers who have symptoms of depression, which makes postpartum depression the most underdiagnosed obstetric issue in the United States, the AAP said. Around one in eight pregnant or perinatal women suffer from depression, and about half of low-income new mothers have symptoms of depression.
In addition to jeopardizing the child, undiagnosed depression in mothers could result in expensive and unsuitable medical diagnoses and care and family dysfunction. “Perinatal depression may be comorbid with marital discord, divorce, family violence (verbal and/or physical), substance use and abuse, child abuse and neglect, failure to implement the injury-prevention components from anticipatory guidance (eg, car safety seats and electrical plug covers), failure to implement preventive health practices for the child (eg, Back to Sleep), and difficulty managing chronic health conditions such as asthma or disabilities in the young child,” the authors wrote. Back to Sleep means putting infants to sleep on their backs so that they are safer from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, (SIDS).
To combat perinatal depression, the AAP recommended that pediatricians develop processes to screen the mothers of young children and to utilize community resources to help fight the malady. “The primary care pediatrician, by virtue of having a longitudinal relationship with families, has a unique opportunity to identify maternal depression and help prevent untoward developmental and mental health outcomes for the infant and family,” the authors said.
“Screening can be integrated … into the well-child care schedule and included in the prenatal visit. This screening has proven successful in practice in several initiatives and locations and is a best practice for [primary care providers] caring for infants and their families,” the AAP said. “Intervention and referral are optimized by collaborative relationships with community resources and/or by colocated/integrated primary care and mental health practices.”
In short, depression both weakens families and can make mothers unable to care for their children, and doctors should find out if mothers are suffering from serious unhappiness. According to the Centers for Disease Control, depressed mothers are willing to get help if their depression is identified.
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