Postpartum Progress

Where Are All the Women with PPD? Right Here.

The next time one of you tells me you feel like no one else has PPD but you, I'm going to point you toward this posting and remind you that women with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are EVERYWHERE.  They're just not wearing a big sign around their necks to make it obvious.  But trust me, they're all around you.  You are definitely NOT alone.  Just look at all the Warrior Moms writing about their experiences with postpartum depression and related illnesses in the last few days ...

The mom at Rosy Colored Glasses has a beautifully written 2-part piece on her experience with PPD.  Here's part 1 and here's part 2.  If you've had a baby with food allergies, or been frustrated with breastfeeding, or moved houses, or been surprised at the irritability and anger that can come with PPD, or spent 12 hours a day with a belt sander (ok, maybe not that), then you may see yourself in her story ...

Najma at A Bug's Life writes about her experience with PPD, including being away from her family in Pakistan, infertility, an emergency C-section, a baby with sleep problems, and negative body image ...

Melanie at Soggy Granola Mom talks about Jenny's Light

Hattie at Mommy Musings is reminded of her PPD experience through conversations with others

The Trial of Labor blog has a post about PPD and PTSD after pregnancy loss

The mom at C Shell begins to write her PPD story, including a 16-day hospital stay

Infertility & Depression from MGH

Here is an interesting article from Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Women's Health on infertility and depression and why they may be linked.

Infertility Treatments and PPD

A week or so ago someone asked me whether there were any proven links between infertility treatments and postpartum mood disorders.  Today I found this article from last August (how did I miss this?), about some research on the subject:

In the the journal Fertility and Sterility, researchers in Australia reported that treatment for infertility appeared to be linked to an increased risk for developing emotional problems related to parenting. 

"Conceiving a child after undergoing infertility treatment was four times more likely to result in emotional issues related to parenting than having a child without such treatments ...

The Australian study included just over 700 new moms with mild to moderate depression, anxiety, or other emotional problems that led them to seek treatment at a special clinic.

The researchers determined that 6 percent of the mothers seeking emotional treatment conceived through infertility treatments. This is four times greater than the 1.5 percent of infants conceived through infertility treatments in the general population.

Mothers who conceived through IVF and other forms of assisted reproduction were more likely than other moms to be older, have multiple births, and have difficult deliveries that ended in cesarean sections -- three other suspected risk factors for postpartum depression.

The researchers suggest that women who achieve successful pregnancies after undergoing infertility treatment may benefit from additional emotional support before and after their babies are born."

As you may remember, Brooke Shields went through IVF and experienced postpartum depression, and I've talked to several other women who had the same experience.  We should make sure that women going through IVF speak with their doctors prior to birth about how to recognize the symptoms of postpartum mood disorders and the type of treatments that are available.

Tags: postpartum depression infertility IVF PPD research