PUBH6000: Social, Behavioural and Cultural Factors in Public

Running head: POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION
POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION
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POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION
Post partum depression in mothers:
Postnatal depression is one of the most common mental disorders that affect women
between one month and that of the one year after the birth of the baby. It affects for about one in
every seven women who give birth in the nation of Australia every year. All mothers need to go
through a period of adjustment, as they need to handle the huge changes in their lives that the
bay brings with him (Law et al., 2018). This time of adjustment is usually temporary and is not
usually overly distressing. This issue is named as “baby blues” and usually continues for 2 to 3
days. When mothers realize that similar feelings are lasting beyond the early days after the
baby’s arrival and are continuing to get worse, it might prove to be signs of depression that
requires support and treatment from professionals.
Outcomes of postpartum depression:
The outcome of postpartum disorders is detrimental not only on the quality of life of the
mother but also affects the baby in various ways. When a woman suffers from postpartum
depression, she might face difficulty in reacting to her child in appropriate manner. Studies are of
the opinion that lack of appropriate interaction can affect the cognitive, behavioral, and physical
development of the baby (Werner et al., 2015). Studies have found out that a mother who remain
depressed in the first three months after the birth of the baby, their babies become more irritable,
act in hostile manner and remain less engaged with the world around them and even shows less
emotions than babies who mothers do not suffer from post-partum depression. Even cases are
present which show that post-partum depression in mothers can result in post-partum psychosis
that can even lead to infanticide (Woolhouse et al., 2015).

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POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION
Gender and social factors determining the impact of the situation:
The generation that ensures equality of rights between both the genders has helped both
males and females to participate in all activities. However, in case of motherhood, most of the
responsibility comes upon the mother, as she is the immediate and primary caregiver of the
child. Therefore, more than the father, mothers are held responsible for the well being and better
physical and mental health development of the child. The males usually take upon the
responsibility of maintaining the financial stability during this time putting the entire pressure
on the mothers about rearing of the child (Law et al., 2018). The feeling of tackling the massive
responsibility creates pressure on the mother making them suffer from depression. The feeling of
less social support in case of many mothers had been also reported in the studies. The mothers
are also seen to go through many physical changes in their bodies, which make them think that
they can no longer look attractive and match to the expectations set up by societies about
beauty of women. This is never the case of male genders, as males do not go through such
feelings. Hence, social factors like this become contributors of depression. Many of the studies
also suggest that low financial stability, high levels of stress, lack of support system, domestic
violence and similar others are some of the social factors that affect the mental health of mothers
making them suffer from depression (Wolhouse et al., 2016). Mothers also need to spend most of
the times of the day with the children, as they remain mostly dependent on their mothers in the
initial times. Therefore, they are often seen to fail to participate in social gathering and similar
other events. This make them feel socially excluded. All these make them develop depression.