Fatigue, malaise, depression or even real depression… In France, the baby blues affects 50 to 80% of women who give birth and 10 to 20% of mothers are affected by postpartum depression in the weeks following childbirth, according to the Health Insurance. To better help and advise them, the APHP (Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris) and Sorbonne University will launch an application for the beginning of 2023.
Called “SmartPartum“, this application aims to better support postpartum women.”Unfortunately, many women still refuse care, for fear of being judged badly, out of guilt“, indicates to the Parisian Professor Hugo Bottemanne, psychiatrist and researcher at the Brain Institute.
When is postpartum? If it is quite normal to feel tired, and even overwhelmed after the arrival of a baby, it is from the moment when you feel neither pleasure nor happiness in being with your baby nor wonder. that we should be alarmed. And postpartum depression can happen to any woman, even those who have never experienced a depressive episode. In question ? Hormones. “When the placenta is expelled […] there is a fall in a very special hormone derived from progesterone in the brain. (…) It is its decrease which is probably the cause of this transient state of hypersensitivity that women go through, three days after giving birth”adds the doctor.
An app that “for all mothers”
The app launched in 2023 will encourage affected women to better self-diagnose and above all to react earlier in the event of distinctive signs. Postpartum depression can indeed be harmful, being the first cause of death for mothers, three months after childbirth, but also by undermining the development of the infant, who very quickly feels what is wrong around him. from him.
But the app is not just for postpartum women and also wants to help all mothers”with advice on baby care, sleep, food, relaxation techniques, autohynosis, so that everyone feels good after a birth“, ends Dr. Bottemanne.
In addition to this application, a early postnatal maintenance has been systematically offered to young mothers since July 1, 2022 to support them in the weeks following the birth. It can be performed by a midwife or a doctor. This interview would thus make it possible to better identify the first signs of postpartum depression (depressive or anxious state, fatigue, unstable mood), to identify possible risk factors and to evaluate the possible needs of the woman or the couple. in terms of support. If the health professional deems it necessary or if the parents feel the need, a second appointment can take place a few weeks later.
Sources:
- “SmartPartum”, the new application that helps detect baby blues, Le Parisien, October 3, 2022
- Baby blues and postpartum depression: a preventive interview now mandatoryAmeli.fr, July 1, 2022
