Postpartum Depression & Anxiety
A happy time filled with excitement and joy – that’s what most of us envision when someone is having a baby. For many parents, this is not a reality.
Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Depression or anxiety during or after pregnancy is an illness best described as a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder (PMAD) and is as real as any other medical condition, like a heart disease, cancer, a broken leg or diabetes. Without help there can be serious consequences.
Nearly 1 out of every 5 women — experience some form of PMAD during pregnancy or after having a baby.
And up to 10% of fathers experience paternal depression or anxiety.
PMAD encompasses mood and anxiety disorders from pregnancy until two years after a baby is born and includes depression, anxiety, psychosis, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
PMAD is the most common complication of childbirth. If it goes untreated, there can be serious complications for moms, babies and families including:
- Disruption in mother-baby bonding
- Interruption in the infant’s development
- Family and relationship conflicts
- In serious cases, can lead to suicide or infanticide
-
Mother & Baby Program Improves Patient and Child Health and Wellbeing
After collecting patient outcome data over a 22-month period, clinical evidence now shows that patients’ symptoms are actually decreasing and patients are getting better.
-
Postpartum Depression: Ways to Cope and Heal
If you’re a mom or dad, you’ve walked through the otherworldly time surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. The time following the birth of a child is incomparable: It brings the gift of life and the fun of seeing your family grow. Parenthood also brings upheaval. Daily routines become irrelevant, sleep is sporadic and scarce, and guilt can take over in ways it never did before. Our old, familiar lives vanish. Like our babies, we’re born...
-
Supporting Women During Pregnancy and Postpartum
Postpartum depression and other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD) affect up to 20 percent of pregnant women and those who have recently given birth. In fact, postpartum depression is the most common complication following childbirth, affecting 1 in every 7 women. Treatments for these illnesses are very effective and can have women feeling more like themselves again quickly. However, the Center for Disease Control reports that less...
View All Posts