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PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH: BABY-BLUES

Posted under Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction by admin

Three or four days after delivery more than 80 per cent of women develop the ‘baby-blues’ with weeping, anxiety, confusion, and fears of incompetence. This temporary stage of post-natal depression is probably more common in women in hospital than in those at home and is thought to be less common among mothers who breastfeed on an unrestricted basis from birth. Usually it is short-lived and could be partly due to the dramatic hormonal changes following delivery.

Although some mothers seem to fall in love with their baby at first sight, others question their feelings, waiting to no avail for the overpowering love our culture has taught them is felt by all ‘normal’ women. Women who have had a baby of the ‘wrong’ sex may take time to adjust and those whose child has any blemish, no matter how slight, may blame themselves in some way. These doubts may contribute to a feeling of depression. All this is hardly surprising when one remembers that the average woman is emotionally vulnerable immediately after the birth and that for as long as she stays in hospital she is often not treated as the baby’s responsible

mother – the midwives are. Once home she is in charge and can handle and cuddle her baby more. This is undoubtedly one reason why early depression is less common after a home birth.