The postpartum depression would affect more than 100,000 women per year (out of 758,000 births, during the year 2018). It would occur within three months after delivery. At the Mental Health Conference, the Secretary of State for Children Adrien Taquet announced the implementation of systematic screening for postnatal depressionfrom the start of 2022.
Two interviews to assess symptoms
In an interview with Top Santé, child psychiatrist Marie Douniol explained that postpartum depression was much more common than you might imagineand that it could be explained in particular by a reduced duration of time spent in maternity and evolving social practices: “the women of the family and the friends, who formerly brought their help and their support, are distant, no longer, or less, take over”.
To help women who are going through or are at risk of going through this suffering, a routine maintenance will take place at the 5th week after the birth of the baby, with trained health professionals. Another will arrive at the 12th week if the patient is deemed to be at risk for depression. If, however, symptoms were detected, the mothers would be put in contact with a psychologist or psychiatrist.
That said, signs can appear earlier than 5 weeks: intense sadness that lasts, sleep problems, irritability and anger, loss of appetite or even uncontrollable crying, headaches… It can also be expressed by fear of hurting her child, the feeling of being a bad mother, despair. In the event of symptoms of this type, do not wait for the check-up appointment and ask for help from your relatives or the nursing staff with whom you are in contact.
A disease still very little known
Following a survey conducted in August 2021 by OpinionWay for the Qare platform, 78% of parents surveyed said they had never heard of postpartum depression before having a child, to no medical appointment. 30% of mothers and 18% of fathers testified to having experienced a depressive episode after the birth of their baby. In terms of diagnosis, the figures are very low: only 5% of mothers were detected for postpartum depression.
Adrien Taquet announced a strengthening of the perinatal psychiatry offer, with the opening of 5 to 10 new parent-baby care units, and between 15 and 20 new mobile teams.
Read also:
- Testimonial: “I thought I was safe from postpartum depression”
- #LaVéritéDerrièreLeSourire, a hashtag to talk about postpartum depression