Postpartum Depression

Health: Living in Depths of despair: Some health-care officials are worried women suffering from post-partum depression aren't seeking help

Caroline is thinking hard, staring off into the distance, gripping the arm of the overstuffed couch with both hands.

She looks confused by the question that Paula Bodnarek has just asked her: ``Are you enjoying life?''

Caroline struggles to surface with her answer. She is wedged tightly in the corner of the vast beige, otherwise empty, sofa. She can't seem to find her voice.

After birth blues; Postpartum depression remains one of the darkest secrets of motherhood

It was supposed to be the happiest time of her life. But instead of joy at the birth of her daughter, Penny White was filled with sadness, guilt and an unshakable depression that convinced her she was losing her mind. There were days she put the baby in her crib and stood alone outside the house, afraid of being alone with her daughter.

Postnatal depression (PND) has been described and defined in many ways over the past 200 years (Gruen,1993), with both convergent and divergent accounts of incidence, characteristic symptoms and features, onset and course, as well as aetiology reported. The lack of any clear and comprehensive definition has influenced and been affected by methods of assessment and quantification, thus making comparative study and evaluation problematic, with consequential roll-over effects into identification and intervention.

Depression is as common during pregnancy as after, study shows

Depression is at least as common during pregnancy as it is after childbirth, and should be diagnosed because it may be harmful to the baby, new research indicates.

While doctors are careful to spot and treat postnatal depression, they are not so vigilant about looking out for depression during pregnancy because they don't expect it, said Jonathan Evans, the study's lead investigator and a senior lecturer in psychiatry at Bristol University in England.

Beyond the Baby Blues: Understanding postpartum depression

By Katharine Partridge