Word: postpartum
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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TIME showed an utter lack of understanding about the seriousness of postpartum depression. It affects millions and impairs functioning; it is not a "difficult period." Fewer than half of cases are recognized, and fewer of those women ever get help...
...More Help Needed for Moms TIME has done a great disservice to mothers suffering from postpartum depression (PPD) [July 20]. You showed a clear lack of understanding about the seriousness of this illness, which affects 10% to 20% of new mothers. PPD impacts a mother's ability to function; it is not a "difficult period." It has many risk factors, not just a history of depression or anxiety. Although effective treatment is available, fewer than half of cases are recognized. Fewer of those women ever receive treatment. The Mothers Act, which funds research, education and awareness, is the only piece...
...this version. Aside from its support for contraception, none of the new or expanded initiatives it contains are terribly controversial: a national campaign to teach parents how to talk to their kids about sex, efforts to educate the public about adoption, home nurse visits for low-income mothers, expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage...
Some psychologists argue that universal PPD screening misses the point because the greatest risk factor for postpartum depression is not giving birth, in fact, but previous depression. Women develop depression at the same rate whether or not they have given birth, according to Stony Brook University psychology professor Marci Lobel. "Women who have been healthy all their lives, who haven't suffered lots of anxiety and depressive symptoms, are unlikely to have problems in the postpartum period - not even close to likely," says Michael O'Hara, a University of Iowa professor of psychology. Further, say experts, while pregnancy hormones...
Still, there's no denying that the postpartum period is a difficult one for many women. Some new mothers contend with clinical depression, but many more experience the normal feelings of "baby blues," the short-lived postpartum sadness that affects at least half of all mothers. "[We] should be addressing the social factors causing women to be upset after they give birth, not locating the problem within the women," says Paula Caplan, a clinical and research psychologist...