Postpartum depression is a serious mental health diagnosis prevalent in 1 in 7 postpartum women that has an adverse impact on the woman’s quality of life (QOL) and potentially detrimental impact on the health and development of her newborn child.
While there exist adequate screening tools to identify this condition, many women are reluctant to follow through with mental healthcare recommendations.
Shame and fear of stigma are some of the greatest contributing factors for women to suffer in silence with their emotional experience.
Transition to the role of motherhood can be overwhelming for many women, causing them to neglect or abandon other life roles and activities that give their daily lives meaning.
Facilitated engagement in meaningful activities have shown to have a positive impact on QOL and decreased perceptions of depression in women with PPD.
The OT can benefit the client through the promotion of healthy lifestyle, role transition, and engagement in actionable interventions to regain occupational balance and improved perceptions of QOL.
BACKGROUND AND PREVALENCE
While the transition to motherhood is commonly viewed as a positive experience in a woman’s life, it comes with significant physical, psychological and social impact that may require adapting to and overcoming various barriers (Habel, Feeley, Hayton, Bell, & Zelkowitz, 2015). Adjustment to the role of motherhood is a major life change that, for some, may entail unanticipated feelings of stress, anxiety, fear of being a “bad mother”, feelings of inadequacy, and uncertainty as to how to balance one’s life (Habel et al., 2015). The American Psychiatric Association (2019) estimates that one in seven women will experience the more serious diagnosis of postpartum depression (PPD), while up to 70% of all new mothers will experience “baby blues,” a shorter-lasting and less detrimental condition. Hansotte, Payne, and Babich (2017) define PPD “as nonpsychotic depression occurring up to 1 year after childbirth….and is a crippling mood disorder that erodes away at the joy and happiness of new mothers”(p. 2).
What Postpartum Depression Feels Like...
National Coalition for Maternal Mental Health (2016)
Understanding Postpartum Depression...
The Mayo Clinic Minute (2018)
The American Psychiatric Association (2019) clearly emphasizes that “baby blues” and postpartum depression (PPD) are not the same, and the latter has serious implications for the health and wellbeing of both the mother and the child. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2018) has acknowledged that the postpartum period as a critical timeframe for both a woman and her infant, and has made continuous recommendations for the optimization of establishing and providing ongoing care as needed to ensure best outcomes in identifying and addressing PPD. However, despite the increased awareness being drawn upon the issue, and the continued efforts being made by leading healthcare professionals to proactively identify and address symptoms that may present as indicators, underutilization of postpartum care and noncompliance with mental health recommendations play a role in undermining effective impact upon the prevalence of this condition.
Feeley and colleagues (2016) articulate that despite valid and reliable screening tools being available to detect the symptoms of PPD, there is a lack of evidence to indicate that the screening process yields effective uptake of the mental health services recommended. They further indicate in their research that few of the women (18-36%) positively identified as depressed accepted and utilized the prescribed mental health services to address their healthcare needs (Feeley, Bell, Hayton, Zelkowitz, & Carrier, 2016). Moreover, of those few who accept a referral for mental health services, less than half followed through with contacting the mental health provider (Feeley et al., 2016). Screening is not enough. Identifying the women who are in need of care is only a first step. Women who do not receive proper postpartum care for their mental health needs will not