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Postnatal depression
(PND)
Leaflet 7
Postnatal depression affects at least one in ten women.
What is
postnatal depression?
Written by
Dr Williams, MRC clinical scientist, senior lecturer and honorary
consultant psychiatrist. It can range
from the so-called baby blues to the inability to look after their
baby, hatred of the baby, and even to suicide. Yet if it is identified
and treated, the vast majority of sufferers make a full recovery.
More information on PND is available from:
Baby Centre
JustParents
Parenting and Pregnancy advice for
mums and dads
http://www.justparents.co.uk
Other (PND) Support services:
www.rcpsych.ac.uk
www.bham.ac.uk
Netmums
A local network for mums by mums with a
wealth of information and advice on being a mum with young children in
your home town Netmums.com
note:
» Back to the top
of page
Fact:
"Almost half of all new mothers hide the
symptoms of post natal depression from their health visitors"
Press:
The Real Story
Silent Suffering of Depressed mums
Monday 28th November at 7.30pm
on BBC One.
View the Full Program
BBC Real Story
has discovered that many mothers are not getting support because they
are frightened to tell health visitors and doctors about their
condition. They are worried that if they admit to needing help they could be
judged unable to cope and have their babies taken away.
One woman, whose depression had made her suicidal, claims that social
services told her "you'd better get better or your baby will be
adopted."
And a psychiatrist tells us of his fight for more specialist mental
health services for the women who need them.
"A lot of mothers in Britain are getting less than the best
treatment," says Professor Ian Brockington.
"And as a result of that I think a lot of them will lose their
babies."
Fiona Bruce
The
Times November 28, 2005
Half of all new mothers 'cover up'
depression
Almost half of all new mothers hide the symptoms of post natal
depression from their health visitors, according to a new survey. 597
mothers were polled in the survey, which found that fears that social
services would be called in keeps mothers from being frank about
suffering from post natal depression. Most British mums are asked
to fill in a form by their health workers, designed to assess them for
depression. But 44% of the mothers polled admitted to lying on the form
– and admitted that it was the fear of having their children taken away
that prevented them from admitting their true feelings.
Daily Mail Mothers 'cover
up' depression
Many more new mothers may be
suffering from postnatal depression (PND) than was thought because some
are lying to health visitors about their symptoms, a survey suggests.
New mothers 'lie about baby blues' Daily Mail 28th November 2005
Many more new mothers may be suffering from postnatal
depression (PND) than was originally thought because some are lying to
health visitors about their symptoms, a new survey suggests. The poll for the BBC's Real Story programme
revealed that 44% of mothers with the condition lied about their
feelings when filling out a special form designed to assess them for
PND. Many said they feared they would be seen as
bad mothers if they told the truth about their depression, or would
even risk having their child taken away by social services.
The survey, carried out with help from an
online support group called Netmums, had responses from 597
depressed mothers. According to the results, 236 of them said
that they lied when filling out the "Edinburgh Scale" form, which is
often given to new mothers by health visitors. The findings suggests that sufferers of PND
may number far more than the 10% of new mothers who are currently
thought to be afflicted. A union representing health visitors told the
BBC1 programme Real Story that increased pressure on its members was
to blame for an over-reliance on the Edinburgh Scale to identify
PND. "It's very convenient just to hand it out,
look at the results and maybe rely on a score, because there can be
a score attached to it," said Cheryl Adams, of the Community
Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association. Other experts suggest that recent
high-profile child abuse cases such as the death of Victoria Climbie
may have led to a greater focus by health visitors on spotting
potential abuse. Jean Robinson, of the Association for the
Improvement in Maternity Services, tells the programme: "They have
taken on more and more the policing role instead of the support
role."
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