Postpartum depression affects between 10% and 15% of mothers in France, according to Santé Publique France.
Characterized by sleep disorders, anxiety, irritability, dark thoughts, permanent fatigue or even difficulties in the mother-child relationship, this “post-natal psychiatric disorder” is still poorly understood: Most cases, it occurs between 4 and 6 weeks after childbirth.
According to a new study conducted by the University of Kent (in England), the sex of the unborn child may influence the risk of postpartum depression. For example, women who give birth to a baby boy have, on average, a 71% to 79% increased risk of suffering from postpartum depression during the first weeks after birth.
An even higher risk in women who have experienced a difficult childbirth
To come to this (terrible) conclusion, the British researchers worked on medical data concerning 296 women who gave birth. They also discovered that in the event of complications during childbirth (hemorrhage, breech birth …), the risk of postpartum depression was increased by … 174%. Frightening !
“We hope that these discoveries will encourage health professionals to pay special attention to women who have just given birth to a baby boy, with or without complications during childbirth: they should also benefit from a follow-up. personalized to prevent postnatal depressive episodes ”explain Dr. Sarah Johns and Dr. Sarah Myers, principal authors of this study, published in the specialized journal Social Science & Medicine.
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