Depression and Pregnancy is Serious, but is Depression Common?

According to a study, reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry, of more than 4,300 women “one in seven women were depressed before, during, or after childbirth.”  This is a considerable number of depressed women and the consequences to the unborn are serious and has long term effects, as reported in a previous blog on BakersfieldHypnoBirthing.com.  Persistent depression in the mother during pregnancy increased the odds of developmental delay to the unborn baby by 50 percent.  A developmental delay is defined as a significant lag in a child’s physical, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, or social development.

Based on these findings it is reasonable to recommend that women considering pregnancy as well as pregnant women and postpartum women should be screened for depressive symptoms.

 Pregnant women and their unborn babies will benefit considerably by participating in mind/body modalities such as HypnoFertility® if they are diagnosed with “unexplained” infertility and HypnoBirthing® after they have conceived.  Mind/body treatments are excellent for women of child bearing age because they are non evasive and chemical free thereby diminishing possibilities of negative side effects.   Furthermore, both HypnoFertility and HypnoBirthing make use of hypnosis.  Hypnosis promotes relaxation and release of serotonin which is the body’s natural defense against depression.