Beware, Depression in Fathers Can Cause Premature Babies

Medical Video: Narcissistic Abuse Causes Premature Aging Pt1

Normal births will occur at weeks 38 to 42. If birth occurs at week 37 or even less, it can be called preterm birth.Premature birth can cause various adverse effects on the health, growth and development of children. Even most newborn deaths are caused by premature births.

Babies born prematurely do not experience maximum growth and development during pregnancy. Short-term complications that can occur in premature infants are bleeding in the brain and heart, disorders of the digestive system, metabolism, and nervous system. While the long-term effects of premature birth are cerebral palsy, impaired cognitive function, vision problems, hearing loss and mental disorders.

Various types of preterm births

Premature birth can be divided into several groups, namely:

Extreme preterm birth, ie babies born less than week 25
Very premature birth, ie babies born less than 32 weeks
Moderate preterm birth, is the birth process that occurs in weeks 32 to 34
Late preterm birth, is a baby born when the gestational age enters the 34th to 36th week.

Premature events can be caused by various factors and usually due to unhealthy mental conditions, poor or even poor nutritional status, and health complications that occur in the mother during pregnancy. But recently there have been studies that say that mothers are not the only cause of premature birth, but fathers can also cause this to happen.

Father's depression can cause the birth of a premature baby

A study conducted in Sweda, reported in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (BJOG), involving more than 350 thousand births that occurred between 2007 and 2012 examined the condition of depression in fathers and mothers with the incidence of very premature infants (births between 22 and 31 weeks) or moderate premature babies (birth 32 to 36 weeks). In this study involving parents who were depressed, which is known from the consumption of antidepressants or parents who have experienced depression 12 months before birth or when the second trimester.

Depression that occurs in mothers has long been associated with premature birth, from the results of these studies it is known that mothers who are depressed during pregnancy have a risk of 30% to 40% giving birth to moderate premature babies. Meanwhile, depression that occurs in the father, can increase the risk of preterm birth by as much as 38%. The results of the study also state that depression that occurs in fathers tends to cause very premature births of babies, namely births that occur when the week 22-31.

Depressed father causes the mother to experience depression too

The relationship that is most likely to answer why depression in fathers can lead to the birth of premature babies, is that a father who is depressed causes the mother to experience depression. Depressed father candidates are psychosocial problems that are very dangerous and have an impact on increasing stress in pregnant women. This condition will cause the prospective father to become more irritable and emotional, which can lead to pressure on the wife who is pregnant. In addition, stress experienced by pregnant women can also be caused due to lack of attention and support from husbands who are depressed. Meanwhile, unstable emotions in pregnant women can affect the health of the fetus, even to miscarriage. Depression that occurs in prospective fathers is also reported to cause pregnant women to experience preeclampsia and various other pregnancy complications that can be harmful to the health of the mother and fetus.

Another theory that can answer this incident is epigenetic theory, namely genetic changes in prospective fathers that can be passed on to subsequent generations. Some experts say that depression can change the genes found in the sperm of prospective fathers. Changing these genes can have various effects, such as low birth weight, birth defects, Down syndrome, autism, and preterm birth in infants.

READ ALSO