How women can mitigate the impacts of postpartum depression

Background of postpartum depression

Depression has quickly become a major public health concern for those in the United States. COVID-19 and its resulting health consequences have exacerbated many of the impacts of depression on women within developed worlds. The pandemic for example, caused massive and unexpected job loss of millions of families. Many of those impacted such as travel, tourism, and retail are still reeling from the economic consequences of the virus. These elements can combine to severely impact the psychological wherewithal of individuals in society, particularly women. Child bearing is one of the most powerful and stressful events a woman can experience. If unprepared financially, or healthcare wise, this stress can result in depression. For once Women are nearly twice as likely to experience depression during their childbearing years as compared to men. Postpartum depression is defined by academics as an episode of non-psychotic depression according to standardized diagnostic criteria that occurs one year after child birth.

Issues of importance of postpartum depression (causes, possible treatments, effects)

According to research the causes of postpartum depression with an individual can vary dramatically. In many instances, the mothers experience after child birth can vary dramatically which correlates heavily to depression statistics. Generally speaking, postpartum depression is caused by a litany of risk factors which often include anxiety, stress, poor social support, and previous history of depression outside of pregnancy. In other instances, depression can be related to stress related to childcare, low self-esteem, marital status and relationships with their partners. Currently research has not found a correlation between postpartum depression and race, education, or age (Beck, 1995).

Essentially the data has shown that the cause of postpartum depression fall into three primary categories of economic, social, and psychological. Each of these categories is related to the other, but individual, they can have a disproportionate impact on the mother after childbirth.

From an economic perspective, the cost of children has risen every year for the past decade. According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, the average cost of raising a child form birth to 18 years old is roughly $234,000 per child. The primary elements of this figure include housing, food, childcare, healthcare. In addition, this figure does not include college expense which can easily increase the figure by $100,000. Parents with low socioeconomic status often face the daunting task of trying to provide for a child with little to no financial means. This issue is further compounded if the mother works in an industry that his highly sensitive to economic shocks and recessions such as travel, tourism or retail. As noted in the introduction, COVID-19 has contributed heavily to risk factors of postpartum depression as many employees in the above sectors were laid off or furloughed. In addition, these women were often unable to find additional employment as their skills are antiquated and not well suited to transfer to unrelated professions. Still further, women must contend with salaries, wages, and benefits that are often less than their male counterparts, further inhibiting their overall ability to take care of their children. All of these economic factors can often coalesce to become daunting and overwhelming for the mother. These issues are compounded if the mother is single without a strong support system (Jacobsen, 1999).

The next cause of postpartum depression is heavily related to social elements and aspects. A single mother for example, will need a strong support network to combat the issues of postpartum depression. A strong support system can help mitigate many of the economic aspects that contribute to many of the risk factors mentioned above. For example, a strong support system such as family can help provide critical childcare services that can help alleviate the costs of care for the mother. If the mother is not single, her spouse or partner can also provide critical support both financially and economically. This can help to alleviate the high financial burden associated with child bearing while also providing strong moral support to the mother who may be feeling stress. Finally, the overall community can provide support as well. We often see this within Hispanic and Asian communities who often take a holistic approach to childcare, education, and other community activities. A strong support system helps to alleviate much of the uncertainty that will undoubtedly occur through the childbearing process. Unexpected medical expenses, sickness, child care closure, and even a pandemic can all impact a mother in a negative way, those contributing to postpartum depression. Without this proper support system, many of the risk factors mentioned above become much more apparent (Milgrom, 1994).

Finally, the third component of the causes of postpartum depression related heavily to the psychological integrity of the mother. Here, the media, social media, music, advertising, and television can all impact a mother’s perspective of herself. Women in particular are often inundated with many social constructs such as what “beauty” is and what is “Attractive” to others. Women often experience this pressure throughout their lives as Victoria Secret models, Teen Magazines, and popular television shows what the media would have the world believe is “beauty.” This is then reinforced on social media and other website heavily frequented by women. As a result, women looking solely at these images may have a warped view of what it means to be “wealthy,” or “Happy” as it relates to children. They may develop low self-esteem by comparing themselves to unrealistic societal standards or by comparing themselves to their peers on social media, who, as research has shown, often lie in their posts. In addition, relationships with partners can also lower self-esteem as an individual may be feel “used,” or “unwanted.” Both of the above elements can cause postpartum depression. Consequently, it is often the innocent children who suffer for mothers battling postpartum depression. Young children of mothers with postpartum depression have greater cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal problems than children of non-depressed mothers. Overall, it is exposure to prolonged episodes of postpartum depression or to recurrent episodes of maternal depression that are most likely to have long term effects on the child (Cooper, 1997).

Treatment options vary depending on the severity of the depression and the overall history of the individual being treated. Unfortunately, due to the overall complexity of the issue, there is not one solution that can be used on a majority of women. Instead, a custom and often tailors’ approach is required to help women suffering from postpartum depression.

The first and often simplest solution is the use of anti-depressants. Currently there are 20 options in the United States with many more expected to come to market within the coming years. Each has its own side effects which must be measured against the merits of taking the drug. For example, if breastfeeding certain drugs could have adverse consequences for the child. The next treatment is that of interpersonal psychotherapy. The main goal of IPT is to improve the quality of a client’s interpersonal relationships and social functioning to help reduce their distress. This is very useful when dealing with the self-esteem issues discussed above. Through IPT, women can properly address interpersonal deficits that are heavily correlated to low self-esteem. This can include limited unproductive behaviors such as social isolations, or limiting destructive and unfulfilling relationships. It also allows women to resolve the grief they may be going through as it relates to the father of the child. This is particularly important if the father is not heavily involved in the child’s life or neglects the women in terms of a more fulfilling relationship. Other treatments include, non-directive counseling can be used simply to allow women to vent their overall frustrations or anger. Non directive counseling is often referred to as simply “listening session” where the counseling does not direct the course of the conversation or the action. It allows the women to come with their own answers and solutions themselves rather than being told.