Antenatal depression
We've all heard of post-natal depression, but few people are aware that women can become depressed during pregnancy too. New research published in the British Medical Journal suggests that antenatal depression may be even more common than depression after the baby is born.
The study looked at 9,000 pregnant women and used a clinically approved scale for measuring depression. It was revealed that nearly 12 per cent of women were depressed at 18 weeks, rising to 13.5 per cent at 32-weeks. After delivery the women seemed to get happier. Depression rates dropped to 9.1 per cent at eight weeks after birth, and 8.1 per cent at eight months.
That elusive bloom
A commonly held view is that women bloom during pregnancy, but it's not always the case, according to Dr Jonathan Evans from the University of Bristol, who led the study. GPs. Health visitors and midwives are all trained to look out for post-natal depression, which is thought to affect one in 10 women to varying degrees.
In contrast research into depression during pregnancy has been minimal because their condition was thought to protect women against despondency. Dr Evans believes that more research is now urgently needed to investigate possible treatment.
The research is not unique - a handful of other studies, some dating as far back as the 1960s, have suggested that pregnant women may be vulnerable to depression. So why haven't we heard more about it?
Women may accept their raging emotions as part of the excitement of being pregnant, suggests Heather Welford, author of The Book of Post-natal Depression (National Childbirth Trust, #5.99). Mothers may not recognise the nature of their feelings or may explain it to themselves as being anxious, tired or lonely.
Why do women get depressed during pregnancy?
Hormonal changes are one possibility, but there's not enough research to say conclusively that this is a factor. It is known that you can become depressed when you feel ill, so health problems during pregnancy can have an impact.
'Trying to find out why women become depressed when pregnant is problematic,' says Welford. 'If you take any group of women at any time in their lives, there's going to be a substantial number who are depressed. Pregnancy is another major life change associated with depression. If someone close to them dies, if their marriage breaks up or they have financial difficulties, they are at risk of depression. It shouldn't be surprising that some women are depressed when pregnant.'
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