Bethany Castronuevo

ISM- Period 7

"Postpartum Depression." The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, edited by Jacqueline L. Longe,

3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2016, pp. 902-905. Health & Wellness Resource

Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3631000598/HWRC?u=j084910009&sid=

HWRC&xid=9c2b706f. Accessed 19 Mar. 2018.

 Postpartum depression tends to affect new mothers and even fathers three months after
childbirth.
 Postpartum depression is having extreme feelings such as sadness, anxiety, anger, etc.
 PPD is not diagnosed due to postpartum being “the happiest part of a woman’s life.”
 But, they have made more programs where they screen for PPD across the US
 About 13% -20% of women go through a stage of depression through the postpartum
period, with women experiencing it before their baby is born
 Women that have mental disorders will have a higher chance for having PPD
 The cause of Postpartum depression isn’t known but there are some factors that play to it
like stress and changes the mother may go through.
 During pregnancy, women have high levels of estrogen and progesterone but after, it
regulates.
 A cause of depression could also be thyroid hormone levels dropping
 There are many symptoms of PPD such as having feelings like sadness, anger,
hopelessness, anxiousness and emptiness.
 Someone who has PPD will also cry a lot, often for no reason and will oversleep, have
trouble concentrating, remembering memories, and decision making
 They will overeat, as well as having pain in the body
 They will be distant from close family, relatives, and their baby, making it hard to have a
connection with them. The mother might even have thoughts of harming the baby.
 “Baby blues” is the feelings of worry, tiredness, sadness that 80% of mother’s have
 You are more likely to experience PPD if you had depression in a pregnancy before your
current one, if you have a mental illness, went through stress, and alcohol problems.
 PPD can start within the first year of the baby’s birth with lots of feelings as mentioned in
the previous comments
 You can see if you have PPD through going under a screening
 PPD is also treated with anti-depressants known SSRIs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors),
talking therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and interpersonal therapy (IPT)
 SSRIS take a week to kick in fully, but some people don’t take it due to the chance of
miscarriage being higher and also for having a “bad birth” like the child having an issue

This source has been really insightful because it was a general overview of postpartum
depression, which covered the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression and
treatments of postpartum depression.
 Bethany Castronuevo
ISM- Period 7

Quenqua, Douglas. “Can Fathers Have Postpartum Depression? .” The New York Times, 17

Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/well/family/can-fathers-have-postpartum-

depression.html.

 A dad was really excited to be a father, but instead he was really upset and felt really
hopeless and stressed.
 The father felt really stressed, had anxiety, and felt trapped, which he thinks
prevented him from being a “good father”
 According to research, you don’t have to have the baby in order to have PPD
 In fathers, the percentage for having PPD has increased from 7% -10%
 New mothers have a 12% chance of getting PPD
 New fathers with PPD were most likely to spank their children and not to read
 High testosterone levels in new fathers helped prevent PPD
 High testosterone levels in fathers have a connection to the PPD in mothers
 It is unknown why males get postpartum depression
 Professors think males get PPD due to hormones fluctuating
 Mothers and fathers who adopt also can get symptoms of PPD
 Men have PPD, but the symptoms aren’t as extreme as the symptoms are on women
 It was first noted in the year 400 B.C. about mothers with PPD but they were told
“it’s all in their head”
 There have been studies conducted that say that there is a link between PPD and
hormonal fluctuations common to women after they have given birth
 Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Brooke Shields, and Ivanka Trump had PPD
 Researchers don’t know how much of a factor hormones play into PPD versus stress,
sleep loss, and mental illnesses
 In more researches, it has been noted that testosterone isn’t just a factor for fathers
having PPD, it’s also hormones such as estradiol and prolactin
 Men are less likely to have depression, because apparently men are supposed to “not
have feelings”
 2007, Dr. Courtenay made a website called Postpartummen.com where fathers could
talk about their PPD
 The website now has resources for men to help them treat PPD
 There is even a Postpartum Support International that has a phone consultation for
fathers on the 1st Monday of every month
 A researcher from USC says that the symptoms to “PPD” in men isn’t really PPD
 A father who had PPD said that he’s taking pills and has had a wonderful experience

This source was insightful and informational when it talked about fathers with
Postpartum depression because it really isn’t really a common thing that many
people know about.
 Bethany Castronuevo
ISM- Period 7

Sullivan , Debra. “How to Deal with Postpartum Depression: 7 Tips for Coping.” Healthline,

Healthline Media, 12 Oct. 2016, www.healthline.com/health/depression/how-to-deal-with-

postpartum-depression.

 The time period after you have a baby is full of a lot of emotions from extreme joy to
extreme sadness
 If the feelings of sadness are extreme and off of the radar and tamper with your daily life,
there is a chance that you have PPD, or postpartum depression
 The symptoms show up after the baby is born, but it can last up to six months of having a
delivery
 PPD affects mood swings, bonding with your new child, thinking, and making decisions
 1 in 7 women experience PPD in the US
 Best way to diagnose PPD is to see a doctor
 Doctors will look at symptoms and see solutions on how to make someone better
 Some solutions include psychotherapy, antidepressants, and even both, but there are even
more options
 One of the ways is to make time for yourself
 If you make time for yourself, you should feel less stressed than you were having to take
care of your child
 It is recommended to call up someone to babysit your child while you relax
 Having some alone time is very important, and during those times it is recommended to
do activities like walk or anything
 Getting exercise is also really important too, and you should exercise when possible
 Researchers in Australia have concluded that exercise is a possible antidepressant, even
as simple as walking the baby in the stroller for 10 minutes a day
 Resting along with the baby is really important due to a 2009 report saying when women
didn’t get sleep, they had a higher chance of getting PPD
 The women who got less than 4 hours of sleep between 12 and 6 as well as napping for
an hour a day
 Scientists prefer to take naps throughout the day or to sleep early and pumping a bottle
 Having a healthy diet could also help because with eating healthy food, you will get to
get nutrients the body needs
 At the Postpartum stage, it is recommended to take omega-3 fatty acids such as DHA
because people who do not have that much DHA, it is higher for them to have PPD
 A 2012 study has stated that breastfeeding lowers the chance of PPD but there are
situations where women get PPD while breastfeeding called D-MER, or Dysmorphic
Milk Ejection Reflex with feelings of sadness, agitation, and anger
 PPD makes someone want to be isolated but getting out helps

This article is really informative, giving me tips for a slide for my project.