Contents:
- Medical Video: Pregnancy and Depression: how exercise can help!
- Pregnancy and being a mother can relieve depression: myth or fact?
- The impact of depression on the success of the pregnancy program
- Impact of depression on maternal and infant health
- When can you start trying to have children?
Medical Video: Pregnancy and Depression: how exercise can help!
For those of you who are undergoing a pregnant program, pay attention to various signs and symptoms of you suffering from depression. Because the two things are closely related. What is the effect of depression on the chance of pregnancy? Can a woman who is depressed undergo a pregnant program? Here is the full answer.
Pregnancy and being a mother can relieve depression: myth or fact?
Many people believe that being pregnant and being a mother can awaken instincts in a person to love and care for their children wholeheartedly. That way, you can escape from the shackles of depression. Unfortunately this does not apply to all prospective mothers.
Data collected by the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Women's Health notes that some 20 percent of women continue to experience depressive symptoms during pregnancy, even after their baby is born. A number of studies have also succeeded in proving that untreated depression is very dangerous for maternal and infant health.
Therefore, there is no need to force yourself to join the pregnancy program while still depressed. The best way to deal with depression is to prioritize your own health first. For example, by consulting a psychologist or psychiatrist, living a healthy lifestyle, and undergoing treatment prescribed by a doctor.
The impact of depression on the success of the pregnancy program
Although it is not certain whether depression can make a person infertile, data from various studies around the world show that people who suffer from depression are more prone to fertility problems.
There is one strong theory that is believed to explain the effects of depression on fertility. When you are depressed, hormone levels in the body become unbalanced. Even so that the pregnancy program can be successful, you need stable and appropriate hormone levels.
Depression can also adversely affect your lifestyle. For example you become insomnia and no appetite. You might also want to eat continuously so you are overweight. Some people who are depressed also ultimately depend on cigarettes or alcoholic beverages. This unhealthy lifestyle will obviously make it more difficult for you to get pregnant.
In addition, depression can kill your sex drive. You may also find it more difficult to build intimacy with your partner because you feel empty or fail. As a result, you and your partner rarely have sex so that you are more difficult to get pregnant.
Impact of depression on maternal and infant health
If you end up pregnant during depression, your doctor may prescribe an antidepressant medication. This is because untreated depression is at high risk for pregnancy. In some cases, depression during pregnancy can cause premature birth, disability, or miscarriage.
If done under a doctor's supervision, the use of antidepressant drugs during pregnancy is relatively safe. However, it is still possible that these drugs have side effects for the mother and baby. Although very rare, various case studies reveal that antidepressant drugs can increase the risk of babies born with low body weight, experiencing respiratory problems, high blood pressure, and physical disability, especially in the heart organs.
Besides the use of antidepressant drugs, you are also more susceptible to postpartum depression. This depression can make you feel helpless and don't deserve to be a mother. Finally you have trouble interacting with your baby, and even become reluctant to breastfeed and care for him. If it is very severe, there may be a desire to commit suicide or hurt yourself and the baby. A number of studies have also shown that postpartum depression greatly affects the baby's growth in the long term.
When can you start trying to have children?
Not that people who are depressed or have had depression may not join the pregnancy program. You can still realize the hope of cradling your baby later. However, you are recommended to treat depression first. That way, later you can be more focused on working on offspring and undergo a healthy pregnancy.
According to experts from the MGH Center for Women's Health, you may stop taking antidepressant medication and start a pregnancy program after six months free from the first depression you experience. However, you may still be asked to undergo counseling therapy to prevent depression while trying to get pregnant.
Whereas if you have experienced depression many times before, your doctor may still recommend taking antidepressant medication while undergoing counseling therapy as long as you and your partner are trying a pregnancy.
