Postpartum Depression Research Paper

560 Words3 Pages

Without a doubt, the birth of a child in each family is a momentous event. Can you imagine if that joyful event turned into sadness and guilt and being withdrawn from your newborn baby? Postpartum depression is a serious illness that usually happens after the birth of a child. It is a type of depression that lasts for a long time. It affects not only the mom but also the father and the whole family as well. The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes of PPD, the impact of PPD on both parents, infant and children, the interventions available for postpartum depression, and how social determinants of health relates to postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression negatively impacts a family in many levels. The mother feels feeling of incompetence, helplessness, fatigue, and worthlessness which increases the possibility of social isolation (Letourneau et al., 2012, p. 446). This can result in marital problems such as declining intimacy between partners, disagreement, and hostility. In the same way, men can also suffer from postpartum depression. …show more content…

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario comes up with nursing best practice guidelines for the intervention of PPD. This intervention is evidenced based and a resource tool for nurses and other health care professionals. One of the nursing interventions is that nurses must have the family members and partner become involve in the care for postpartum mothers (RNAO, 2005, p. 33). Family members should be given education on how to look for early signs of postpartum depression. The partner should also attend session support group with the mom to improve their communication between each other. In addition to this, nurses advocate self-care activities to the new moms to help them in the postpartum period (RNAO, 2005, p. 34). As an example, nurses can encourage mom to exercise, eat healthy, and engage in supportive

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