Pregnancy is considered a blissful time in women’s life. However, there are women who deal with fear, anxiety, stress and even depression during pregnancy period. Statistics has shown that nearly 10 to 20% of women suffer from minor symptoms of depression and quarter to half suffers from the major one.
Depression can be termed as fluctuation caused in moods of women. This affects women once in a lifetime and it, is not a surprise that it affects them during their pregnancy period too. However, people do not take this problem seriously because they consider this problem of depression as one type of hormonal imbalance. Depression is an illness related to state of mind, which is treatable.
How can we explain depression during pregnancy?
During pregnancy, mostly women encounter depression. As mood, fluctuation involves fluctuation in brain chemicals. Therefore, hormonal changes are common during pregnancy and these hormonal changes affect brain chemicals, which further leads to depression or anxiety.
Signs and symptoms of depression during pregnancy.
Women experiencing depression will have these symptoms for sometime. They are as follows:
- Continuous feeling sad
- You will find difficulty in concentrating.
- Losing interests in activities that you used to enjoy before
- Feeling of committing suicide
- Stress and anxiety
- Feeling unworthy
- Changing in eating pattern
What are the factors responsible for causing depression during pregnancy?
There are many factors associated with the cause of depression. Here are some of them:
- Conflicts in marital relationship
- Consecutive experiencing stressful events
- Miscarriage
- Going through infertility treatment
- Family history of having depression
- Isolation in terms of having no friends to talk to
Is untreatable depression dangerous to the baby?
Depression is an illness, which needs to be treated immediately, without fail. Persistent depression can affect the health of the baby. How? Uncured depression can result in smoking, lack of nutrition, premature delivery; low birth weight, drinking and can also lead a person to commit suicide. Women who feel depressed during her pregnancy period do not feel like taking care of her, which in turn leads to undeveloped baby.
Treating depression
If you feel depressed and think that, the problem is aggravating further, you must seek advice of your health provider immediately. Let your health provider know about how you feel and what you feel. He will assist you with the healthiest option for you and for your baby. Treatment option includes:
- Join a support group
- Take out time for yourself for activities you cherish to do.
- Pamper yourself in a spa
- Medication
- Talk to your loved ones
- Maintain a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetable. In addition, Omega-3 fatty acid is recommended to pregnant women, experiencing depression.
Encountering with severe depression can be treated by taking anti-depressant. However, before consuming any medication, do refer your doctor. When he gives, you a green signal then only go for any medication because some drugs may have adverse effect on your baby and you.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Anxiety and depression is one hell of a nasty disease. even if you have everything but if you have clinical depression, you are still nothing.`~’
my sister had a hard time getting pregnant because she has this abnormality in her uterus.,`,
you won’t be able to eat any food that you want during pregnancy as some foods could be harmful to the baby, like foods that ha~,”
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