Peripartum mental disorders are not just related to depression. Women can experience a range of mental health problems during pregnancy and after the birth of their baby: depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, postpartum psychosis, panic disorder, and phobias.
Professionals at Brainpower Wellness Institute peripartum mental health in Los Angeles, as the period of pregnancy and postpartum are critical moments for the health of women and their babies, in addition to being an important period for establishing parental standards, for forming a bond, and for child development.
What Are the Consequences For The Baby?
When a woman ignores signs of a worsening emotional situation during pregnancy, her mental health deteriorates. At the same time, the health of the baby, even in the womb, can also be affected. Problems with the child’s immunity, breastfeeding, growth, and even the baby’s weight gain are common in this situation.
Psychological pathologies can also lead the mother to adopt harmful attitudes, such as drinking alcohol, for example, which not only has consequences for her own physical and mental health but also for the development of the fetus.
Peripartum Mental Health Services Near Me
The perinatal period includes:
- The preconception phase;
- Pregnancy;
- The first months after giving birth.
This period, women go through significant transformations, at various levels, the challenges and changes throughout are multiple and not always simple to deal with or overcome.
Knowing how to recognize the signs and seek professional of Los Angeles peripartum mental health help can make a difference to the physical and mental health of the woman and her child and to the well-being of the couple and their growing family.
Therefore, having mental health professionals in health teams that support women who want to become mothers is desirable and increasingly common.
Depression and Anxiety
It is estimated that during pregnancy, depressive symptoms have a prevalence of 7%-25%; in the postpartum period, the prevalence is 10%-20%.
- Depression in pregnancy is associated with:
- Increased risk of obstetric complications;
- Difficulties in bonding and developing the baby.
- Postpartum depression is associated with:
- Changes in the mother’s behavior;
- Interference in mother-child interaction;
- Problems of the child’s cognitive and socio-emotional development.
Anxiety conditions have been studied less in the perinatal period, despite their estimated prevalence of 20%.
- High levels of maternal anxiety during pregnancy are associated with:
- Obstetric complications;
- Premature birth;
- Low birth weight of the baby;
- Emotional and behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence.
- Postpartum, maternal anxiety has been linked to:
- Increased use of health services;
- Reduction in the breastfeeding period, especially in primiparous women (first birth).
It is important to highlight that there is a high rate of comorbidity between anxiety and depression, both for the general population and for pregnant women. Furthermore, anxiety symptoms are a risk factor for the development of postpartum depressive symptoms.
Seek Professional Help from Brainpower Wellness Institute
Enlisting the care of Peripartum Mental Health Services in Los Angeles is the path that women who need support in this area should follow.
In the area of peripartum mental health in Los Angeles there are several possible approaches to supporting women at any stage.
- Psychological support, with sessions in which you can talk openly about your concerns, emotional or other issues, with a clinical psychologist. This can help you find ways to manage different feelings and emotions and implement strategies that provide relief from the complaints you may feel.
- Psychopharmacological approach, to be considered whenever necessary, as there are currently safe medications for pregnant and breastfeeding women, and which can be very effective in treating depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, among other problems. Brainpower Wellness Institute also provide Psychiatric medication management in Los Angeles.
As in all situations in the area of mental health, receiving adequate information from a psychiatrist and being able to make informed and conscious decisions are crucial elements in achieving positive results.
In most cases, successful results from a combination of different strategies, which are tailored and adapted to each specific case, and implemented in collaboration with the maternal health team that follows each woman.
