Babies born in winter, spring reduce mother's risk of postpartum depression

(Representational image)

New Delhi: Nothing else on Earth can compare to the joy of having a baby for parents. But the birth of a child can adversely affect a mother's mental health with most women experiencing major mood shifts after childbirth – ranging from brief, mild baby blues to the longer-lasting and deeper clinical depression known as postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is very common after childbirth than many people may realise.

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), depression affects 1 in 6 women who have given birth.

However, if babies are born during the winter or spring seasons, it can reduce the mother's risk of developing PPD, a study has revealed.

The findings indicated that women delivering in winter and spring may be attributed to the seasonal enjoyment of indoor activities.

Factors affecting the risk of postnatal depression, included the length of pregnancy, whether or not an epidural was given during delivery and body mass index.

At least 10 percent of women experience some degree of anxiety or depression after giving birth.

Symptoms include sadness, restlessness, and lack of concentration.

PPD typically arises from a combination of hormonal changes, psychological adjustments to motherhood and fatigue, said US researchers.

They also found that women, who delivered babies at a higher gestational age (further along in their pregnancy), were less likely to develop PPD and women who did not have anaesthesia, such as an epidural, during delivery had an increased risk.

The authors said women who did not have anaesthesia may have been at an increased risk for PPD because the labour pain may have been traumatising to the women during delivery, or it's possible those who declined anaesthesia just happened to have intrinsic characteristics that made them more vulnerable to experiencing PPD.

Caucasian women had a lower risk of PPD compared to women of other races.

Additionally, increased body mass index (BMI) was also associated with an increased risk of PPD.

The team analysed 20,169 women who delivered babies from June 2015 through August 2017.

A total of 817 (4.1 percent) women experienced PPD.

"It is expected that the mother will do better and be less mentally stressed when delivering a mature, healthy baby," Dr Zhou noted.

The research is being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2017 annual meeting in Boston.

(With ANI inputs)