New mothers are at an increased risk for mental illness and disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder in the 3 months following the birth of their first child, according to a study in the recent issue of JAMA.
Postpartum depression is a complex mix of physical, emotional, and behavioral changes that occur in a mother after giving birth. It is a serious condition, affecting 10% of new mothers. Symptoms range from mild to severe depression and may appear within days of delivery or gradually, perhaps up to a year later. Symptoms may last from a few weeks to a year.
Trine Munk-Olsen, M.Sc., of the University of Aarhus, Denmark and colleagues conducted a study to estimate the risk of postpartum mental disorders requiring hospital admission or outpatient contact for first-time mothers and fathers up to 12 months after becoming a parent.
For first-time mothers, the first weeks and months after the delivery were associated with an increased risk of first admission with any mental disorder, and the period from 10 to 19 days following the birth was associated with the highest risk (7.3 times increased risk) compared with women who had given birth 11 to 12 months previously.
“This may indicate that the causes of postpartum mental disorders are more strongly linked to an altered physiological process related to pregnancy and childbirth than psychosocial aspects of motherhood,” Trine Munk-Olsen says.