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Heather Fynes
ENG 100
Essay #2: Room for Debate
April 5, 2016

Mandatory Postpartum Depression Screening for Woman

As I scroll through the Room for Debate page in the New York Times. The title Looking
after new mothers for signs of postpartum depression, is the debate I came across that intrigued
me most. The question being argued is Should screening for postpartum depression be
mandatory? I believe postpartum depression often gets ignored in our society as a true mental
illness. While there are many important issues when it comes to mandating postpartum
depression screening. I will be discussing two main issues I believe are most important to me, the
affects mothers have when going untreated and the affects postpartum depression has on
children. There are many different forms of PPD, without screening woman go untreated, this
leaves them valuable to harmful situations and sometimes ends with death. All this could be
prevented if postpartum was taking more seriously. Woman arent educated enough when it
comes to the signs of postpartum depression, woman and children are left vulnerable and
untreated, harming themselves or their innocent child.

On the topic of the harmful effects woman suffer from when going untreated with postpartum
depression. I will begin with Katherine L. Wisner a debater in the article I chose for my
assignment, she is the Norman and Helen Asher professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

and obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Wisner
states, according to the World Health Organization, Perinatal depression affects about 1 in 5
women worldwide, either during pregnancy or in the first three months after birth. That is a
substantial amount when it comes to a woman health. Wisner backs her argument up with
a study conducted on 10,000 women. Out of the 10,000 woman 1,396 were found to have some
form of postpartum depression within the first four to six weeks after giving birth. In the study
those who screened positive were often surprised with the results. They said they believed what
they were experiencing was what having a baby was supposed to feel like. I can relate to what
these women where feeling, as I myself have experienced postpartum depression first hand. In
my opinion this study proves my belief on how women are uneducated like I was, when it comes
to postpartum depression. Many suffer alone, there symptoms being undetected and inevitability
the depression proven to be passed down to the child (Wisner). All of this can be solved with a
more detailed way of screening woman with postpartum depression along with ongoing
treatment once detected. Woman often hide behind the embarrassment they will feel if people
know they suffer from this type of depression. Often leading woman to lie on a questionnaire
they answer in a doctors office. Woman need to know they are not alone. I found
a video on Web MD, while doing my research. In the video was a different approach from the
study listed above, but more of a personal experience a case study. The woman in the video
supports my argument why postpartum screening is so importance and the affects it has on
woman. With postpartum depression going undetected woman are left uneducated. It will be
difficult to say that just by mandating postpartum depression screening woman will be safe with
the effects they have while enduring this depression. Ultimately without proper funding woman
will continue to suffer passing the harmful effects down to their children.

If we as a society get woman the help they need in the most crucial times after birth we
can save children form suffering with long term effects, in turn giving them a healthier future.
Again Wisner states, Children of mothers who suffer from postpartum depression are vulnerable
to depression over the long-term, through late adolescence. This was another study conducted
primarily on children under the age of 18 developing the long term affects postpartum depression
had on children. In this study it was found children do suffer long term, a cause of mothers going
untreated. This is why it is so important for mothers to get the proper care they need to inevitably
save the child. In America we have the highest mortality rate in infants (Ohio Department of
Health, 2009). Health care access continue to be a problem, leaving mothers uninsured and
unable to get the care they need to raise their children in a healthy environment. During the first
two three years of a childs life children go through a process call neural plasticity, this brief
window a child develops motor skills and language at an incredible rate. Unfortunately children
are also left vulnerable to the stress, anxiety and depression their mothers are experiencing in
there new role as a parent (NICOLE LETOURNEAU, PHD AND JUSTIN JOSCHKO). Children
are innocent and need to be protected. It is our job as a society to protect our children with
postpartum screening.

In conclusion, I believe I give creditable evidence, supporting my argument of the

urgency when it comes to postpartum depression screening being mandatory. With a better plan
in order with our health systems and a border education for woman on the importance of being
diagnosed with in the early stages of PPD. This will not only benefit with the mothers health,
but also the long term effect of the child, just as I said above. There doesnt need to be anymore

preventable fatalities, its our job as a society to fight for the right of woman and children when it
comes to their mental health. Given proper treatment woman will feel comfortable in their new
role as a mother. The child growing up in a mentally stable environment making them less likely
to be effected in a negative way.

References
Letourneau, Nicole PHD and Justin Joschko. "During the first two to three years of their lives,
children grow millions of neural connections a second far more than they will
ever need

in order to allow their brains to develop in whatever way best suits their

environment.

This adaptability, called neural plasticity, decreases with age, as the most

used

connections thicken and strengthen and the neglected ones wither and

shrink." 5 October

2015. Web.

Ohio Department of Health. (2009). Infant Mortality Task Force preliminary report. America
has a higher infant mortality rate than 28 other developed countries.
Web MD. Dealing with postpartum depression. 5 June 2012. Video. Web.

Wisner, Katherine L. Screening for perinatal depression should be mandatory. New

York Times Room for debate. New York Times. 20 June 2014. Web.