Post natal depression affects up to nineteen percent of new mothers. A cuddle hormone is released during breastfeeding and love-making could hold the key to prevent post-natal depression. Women who have low levels of hormone oxytocin during pregnancy are more prone to experience down after the baby birth.
The children from post-natal women are at higher risk of mental illness in their later life. The oxytocin chemical is generated by the brain during labour, breastfeeding and love making. It encourages feelings of faith, love and affection. Several studies have shown that women with higher levels of the cuddle hormone find it easy to acclimatize to motherhood.
In a study, US and Swiss researchers examined if deficiency of the chemical is associated with the difficulty in bonding that arrives with post-natal depression. For their study they measured hormone levels of seventy-four healthy pregnant women in last three months of the pregnancy. The women were asked about the symptoms of depression a fortnight after giving birth.
The study analysis found a clear connection between low oxytocin during pregnancy and symptoms of depression after giving birth. Moreover women who felt down during pregnancy were prone to struggle after the birth. Post-natal depression is common in women with a history of depression and whose baby needs extra care.
In severe cases it can last for a year, with symptoms ranging from panic attack to thoughts of suicide and harming the baby. According to Dr Gunther Minchmidt from the University of Baasel, further studies should observe if enhancing oxytocin in pregnancy slashes the chances of post-depression.
He added, the early identification of women at risk could allow early pre-emptive intercessions and minimize adverse effects for the well-being of mother and child. This study shows for the first time that levels of oxytocin are reduced in pregnancy in women who will later develop post-partum depression, explained Dr Carmine Pariante, an expert in the psychiatry of pregnancy and motherhood from King’s College London
This study corroborates the concept that depression in the prenatal period frequently starts in pregnancy and has intense effects on the mother-child relationship.