For Men
How Fathers, Family, Friends Can Help
Kathleen Kendall-Tackett takes a look at how other cultures prevent postpartum depression.
"As citizens of an industrialized nation, we often act as if we have nothing to learn from the Third World. Yet many of these cultures are doing something extraordinarily right—especially in how they care for new mothers. In their classic paper, Stern and Kruckman (1983) present an anthropological critique of the literature. They found that in the cultures they studied, postpartum disorders, including the “baby blues,” were virtually non-existent. In contrast, 50–85 percent of new mothers in industrialized nations experience the “baby blues,” and 15–25 percent (or more) experience postpartum depression."
The BBC News has interviewed women about their experiences with postpartum depression.
"Women are more at risk of severe mental illness after giving birth than at any other time in their lives. In the worst cases it can lead to postpartum psychosis, also known as puerperal psychosis, a mental illness which affects one in 500 new mothers and can result in suicide or them killing their baby. BBC Newsnight has spoken to people affected by this devastating but poorly understood condition, which often goes undetected because doctors and midwives can fail to recognise the symptoms."
Therapy works to reduce PTSD symptoms!
"Among couples in which one partner was diagnosed as having posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), participation in disorder-specific couple therapy resulted in decreased PTSD symptom severity and increased patient relationship satisfaction, compared with couples who were placed on a wait list for the therapy, according to a study in the August 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights."
Another reason why family members need to be especially senstive to the plight of new mothers!
"Police on Thursday said the death of a 29-year-old Long Beach woman whose body was found in the trunk of her own car was a suicide, with family members telling investigators that she was suffering from 'postpartum psychosis.'"