Child and Family Health Nursing: Postnatal Depression and Parenthood

This report delves into the complexities of postnatal depression and its impact on the transition to parenthood, with a specific focus on the role of Child and Family Health Nursing (CFHN). It explores the challenges faced by new parents, including the emotional and psychological effects of postnatal depression, and highlights the crucial support CFHN provides through various interventions. The report examines the Family Partnership Model and how it enables CFHN to educate and train parents to understand the needs of their child, as well as address difficulties. This report examines the causes, symptoms, and treatments of postnatal depression, emphasizing the importance of early intervention and the positive outcomes that can be achieved through CFHN support. The report also covers the socioeconomic conditions and its impact on the transition process to parenthood. The report concludes by underscoring the importance of CFHN in promoting the well-being of both the child and the family.

Running head: CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH NURSING
CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH NURSING
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Introduction:
Parenthood is a phase of life where people not only give birth to a new individual but
also takes the step towards a long and challenging journey towards handle, care and grow the
child in to a better adult (Nelson-Coffey et al. 2019). It takes a greater responsibility as the it
is the process of raising an infant who is found to be physically as well as emotionally
dependent on their parents in to healthy and independent individual (Austin 2016). Process of
transition to parenthood is a stage of life which creates greater responsibilities and roles for
people. The child and family health nursing (CFHN) is one of the primary healthcare service
which promotes health care for the children and families (Psaila et al. 2015). The role of the
child and family health nurses are to promote social, emotional and physical health for the
development of the child and its family (Veale et al. 2016). The early parents are found to be
frequently effected by a condition called Postnatal depression, which is state of depression
that is found to be developing after one month till one year of the child’s birth (Netsi et al.
2018). This condition is seen in 1 in every 10 women who are pregnant and giving birth in
the regions of Australia (Gutierrez-Galve et al. 2015). The assignment will focus on the
Postnatal Depression faced during the stage of child birth and how it effects the process of
parenthood. It will also highlight the role of child and family health nurses in development of
better parenthood in the people.
Parenthood transition:
According to Roy et al. (2019), the transition of the parent of the newly born to
parenthood is one of the stages of the life-changing event which is found to enhance the new
responsibilities and the ever-changing roles as being new parents focus on meeting the
requirements which is associated with having a newly born baby in their life.

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With having a new baby comes greater hard work and bigger responsibilities. Several
new parents have stated that loneliness, anxiety, feelings of unsteadiness, loss of control and
instability and stress regarding the responsibility that has developed for the newly born child
(Rossi 2017). According to Barimani et al. (2017), the research states that breastfeeding is
one of the difficult part of being a parent and also lack of sleep was also a difficulty they have
been witnessing. There are also various other problems that are faced by the parents while
going through the transition process. These problems include
 The recovery from the delivery process,
 Difficulties while breastfeeding,
 Getting less amount of sleep,
 Getting emotional
 Handling unsettled or disturbed child
 Physical changes
 Family dynamics alteration (Yavorsky et al. 2015)
Socio economic conditions play a major role in the transition process to parenthood,
taking proper care of a child requires greater expenses due to their basic essential needs such
as nutrition, medication, vaccination and other requirements (Christopher et al. 2015). The
economic conditions thus create difficulties for the parent while they go through the
transition process (Russell and Lincoln 2016). One of the major difficulties the parent face is
their state of postnatal depression which makes it much difficult to adjust and providing
better parenting to the newly born child (van Scheppingen et al. 2016).
Postnatal depression:
According to Gross and Marcussen (2017), the process of giving birth to a baby is
found to trigger a huge bundle of powerful mixed emotions, which starts from excitement and

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happiness to distress and anxiety. These mixed emotions can also end up in to a severe
condition of depression which is called postnatal depression (Pålsson et al. 2018). The
postnatal depression is a type of depression which is found to generate from the early one
month of pregnancy to one year after the birth of the child as during the phase the parent go
through a period of distress in order to adjust with the new situation and the baby (Brown,
Rance and Bennett 2016). The women after the child birth witnesses the condition of ‘baby
blue’ which includes signs and symptoms such as anxiety, mood swings and feeling of crying
(Sethna et al. 2015).
According to Epifanio et al. (2015), these symptoms further get severe and leads to
postnatal depression. The signs of a person suffering from postnatal depression includes
feeling of failure and inadequateness as a good mother, low mood, exhausted, anxious,
having trouble while sleeping, scared and worried about the child. the diagnosis of the
depression condition needs to be performed after a person witnesses the signs for more than 2
weeks (Kozinszky and Dudas 2015).
According to Molyneaux et al. (2018), there is various treatment process for the
postnatal depression which includes psychotherapy, counselling, family support interventions
and if required, medications like antidepressant drugs. The child and family health nurses
play a major role in guiding the parents suffering from postnatal depression while the
transition period to their parenthood.
Role of child and family health nursing:
The child and family health nursing is a process pf primary health care giving which
surrounds a wide range of better health care facilities for the children and their families
(Kaakinen et al. 2018). The aim of the nursing facilities is to improve the health conditions of
the children and their families by promoting emotional, social and physical health and well-

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being as well as development of the children after they are born till the age of five which also
involves their families.
According to Hammarlund et al. (2015), the role of the child and family health nurses
includes immunization of the child and the mother, care management of the children, feeding
and providing better nutrition which also includes lactation. They also ensure child safety,
helping the mother to adjust through the process of motherhood and the most importantly
they help the mothers to overcome and recover from their postnatal depression states (Olin et
al. 2016). The child and family healthcare nursing staffs promotes self-help interventions,
psychological therapies, antidepressants in order to help the parents to go through the severe
condition of postnatal depression in order to go better in their transition process to parenthood
(Coyne 2015). If the postnatal depression condition is observed to be at its peek by the child
and family health nursing staff, they even select the process of Electroconvulsive Therapy
(ECT). It is a process of treatment of the postnatal depression state of a person where small
electrical currents are made passed through the person’s brain which is done deliberately for
the purpose of triggering a short-term seizure. It is found to reduce the signs of the witnessing
psychosis and postnatal depression in conditions where the other treatment processes have
been ineffective for the patient. The child and family health nursing staff must have the
enough knowledge in order to assess the condition and judge which treatment process needs
to be provided (Wade et al. 2018)
The Family Partnership Model is an advanced approach which is based on a
categorical model for the helping procedure which reflects the efficiency of definite helper
qualities and helper skills, as they are used in partnership which is found to enable the parents
and the families to solve and restore their difficulties by building strengths and flexibility and
also to fulfil their objectives in a more effective manner (Eckenrode et al. 2017).

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Figure 1: family partnership model
The model helps the child and family health nursing services to educate and train the
parents in order to understand the needs and requirement of the process of caring a
developing their child in a healthier and better manner (Dennis et al. 2017). The model
focuses on the character of the parents and the interventions are developed accordingly in
order to help them to become a better parent with the involvement of the health care
professionals and the nursing staffs (Wu et al. 2017)
Conclusion:
In order to conclude it can be stated that, being a parent to a newly born is one of the
difficult stage of life. it requires great effort and responsibility in order to help the child grow
and develop healthy and better in his/her life. there are various difficulties that are faced by
the parent while going through the transition process to parenthood. One of the major issues
that a woman faces after she gives birth to a child is the postnatal depression, a state of
depression which occurs because of the anxiety, fear, care and emotions that they start
acquiring for the child for his/her better being. The child and family health nurses play a
HELPING PROCESS OUTCOMES
HELPER
QUALITIES
HELPER
SKILLS
PARENT CHARACTERSTICS
PARTNERSHIP

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major role in the transition process as well as helping the mothers to overcome from the state
of postnatal depression. Their role is providing proper care, education, knowledge and
treatment to these mothers to understand the basic requirement and process of caring and
growing a newly born child.

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