Childbirth is a trigger many different emotions, from joy and excitement to fear and severe anxiety. Many mothers do not expect from this important event only one thing - depression. Mood swings in women who have recently become mothers, are common, but bouts of melancholy usually end quickly. However, some young mothers developed a serious condition known as postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression is talking about character flaws or weaknesses, sometimes it is simply one of the complications of childbirth.

Symptoms of postpartum depression

The most common symptoms of postpartum depression include:

• Lack of appetite
• Insomnia
• Severe irritability Irritability - you try to control my temper , Temper tantrums
• Very severe fatigue
• Loss of interest in sex
• Feelings of shame, guilt, worthlessness
• Mood swings
• Difficulties in the relationship with the child (for example, a mother may shy away from child care or care for him with great effort)
• Emotional detachment from family and friends
• Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby

If untreated, these symptoms may persist for a year or more. Many women can be difficult to admit that they are after birth, instead of the joy of experiencing depression. However, be sure to consult a doctor if the symptoms of depression do not go away within two weeks if they get worse and you become more and more difficult to care for the baby and to cope with the daily chores. Do not wait until this state will pass by itself. In some cases, depression develops into postpartum psychosis Postpartum psychosis - a myth or harsh reality?   - A violation is potentially dangerous for both mother and child.

Physical Changes

After birth, a woman's body is a sharp decrease in the level of hormones estrogen and progesterone, which can contribute to the development of postpartum depression. A sharp drop in the level of hormones produced by the thyroid gland, also evokes a feeling of fatigue and depression. Changes in blood volume, blood pressure, metabolism, and the immune system can also contribute to mood swings Mood swings in women - bad character or a disease?   and other signs that accompany depression.

Emotional factors

Lack of sleep and increased anxiety Anxiety - how to distinguish normal from disease?   after birth can lead to the fact that women become difficult to cope with even minor problems. Many women begin to doubt that they can properly take care of the baby. Someone is going through due to the fact that he feels less attractive and lose a sense of identity due to the fact that too identifies himself with the child. Sometimes, women think that after giving birth, they have lost control over their own lives. All of this can contribute to the development of depression.

Lifestyle Changes

The need to carry out almost all the time with your child, raising the level of responsibility, the number of household duties and other changes that occur after a baby can also lead to depression.

In addition, some women are genetically predisposed to postpartum depression.

Risk factors

The following factors increase the risk of postpartum depression:

• A history of depression (such as postpartum and other types of depression)
• Serious events that occurred during the year, such as the death or illness of loved ones, complications of pregnancy, job loss, etc.
• Problems in the relationship with the partner (the child's father), or other loved ones
• Insufficient support of family and friends
• Financial problems
• Pregnancy was unplanned and / or unwanted

The risk of postpartum depression is particularly high in women with bipolar disorder.

Complications

In the absence of proper treatment of postpartum depression can adversely affect the relationship of mother and child and cause serious problems in the family. In children whose mothers for a long time did not treat postpartum depression, there is a high risk of developing a variety of behavioral disorders, such as sleep disorders and eating behavior, temper tantrums and hyperactivity. In addition, it increases the likelihood of violations of speech development.

Untreated postpartum depression can develop into a chronic depressive disorder. Even with the timely treatment of women suffering from postpartum depression, there is a fairly high risk of developing major depressive disorder in the future.

Births start at any time prior to the thirty-seventh week of pregnancy are considered premature, while babies born prematurely - prematurely. Since prematurity begin until the completion of the formation of all systems of the body of the newborn, premature infants are born weakened, with some defects, much more ill. The prematurely born child, the greater the chance of complications caused by prematurity. Fortunately, many of the consequences of preterm delivery are well treatable.

The most common consequences of premature birth

Underdeveloped lungs - most children completed the formation of light to achieve the thirty-sixth weeks of gestational age. However, since the rate of fetal development is individual and sometimes lung maturation may continue until the due date of birth. If it is known beforehand that the birth will come ahead of schedule, to accelerate this process can be used with prior steroid injections amniocentesis (amniocentesis, which allows to determine, inter alia, the degree of formation of the lungs). Underdeveloped lungs - one of the most serious consequences of preterm labor, which in itself can cause a number of serious health problems of the newborn. Among them:

• Respiratory failure, or idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome - a condition that causes rapid, irregular breathing the newborn. Treatment involves several different techniques: collateral lung newborn oxygen through an oxygen mask, respirator, endotracheal intubation, maintaining continuous positive airway pressure.
• Tachypnea - rapid shallow breathing. This condition can be observed in preterm and in children born at term. Usually three days this state is held, and to restore breathing may be administered intravenous nutrition. Specific treatment is not usually required.
• Bronchopulmonary (pulmonary) dysplasia Dysplasia - what is it?   occurs when the deterioration of the lungs of a premature baby. Since the baby's lungs are underdeveloped, once connected to a respirator light sometimes can not withstand the constant pressure, and their work is broken. Pulmonary Dysplasia - reversible, treatable condition, recovery of which, however, can be quite long.
• Pneumonia - amid all the possible complications caused by underdeveloped lungs, pneumonia is one of the most dangerous consequences of premature birth. Pneumonia - lung infection that affects the lung area, which is involved in the metabolism of carbon dioxide and oxygen. As a result of this inflammation of the lung volume becomes smaller, and as a result, the body receives too little oxygen. Pneumonia - is very dangerous for a newborn child disease that requires surgery. The main methods of treatment - antibiotics, providing supplemental oxygen, intubation. Lack of treatment can lead to death.

Apnea and bradycardia apnea Stop breathing (apnea) during sleep - upper airway obstruction   - This is a temporary cessation of breathing: alarm - irregular breathing pauses at intervals longer than ten to fifteen seconds. Bradycardia - slow heartbeat (disturbing symptom - less than one hundred beats per minute).

Infection - as the body of a premature baby underdeveloped immune system of the baby can not cope with the task of suppressing the activity of harmful microorganisms. A premature baby is particularly vulnerable to various kinds of infections. That is why premature babies are often placed in an incubator, which protects them from potential infections.

Jaundice - yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes caused by increased blood levels of bilirubin, a substance produced by the liver. Treatment of jaundice in premature infants usually involves a few sessions of phototherapy Phototherapy - restores vitality , The duration of treatment can range from seven to ten days.

Intraventricular hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain ventricles) - children born before the thirty-fourth week of pregnancy, the risk of bleeding in the brain is much higher. This is because the immature blood vessels are not able to cope with changes in blood flow, appears during childbirth. Intraventricular hemorrhage can lead to serious complications - cerebral palsy, mental retardation Mental retardation - if the mind is underdeveloped , Retardation in development. Intracranial hemorrhage is observed, according to statistics, from thirty to thirty percent of the children born on the twenty-fourth - the twenty-sixth week of pregnancy.

Inability to maintain body heat - a premature baby is not enough fat and not formed until the end of the skin, so the body is not able to maintain body heat. In order to maintain normal body temperature necessary to placement of the child in an incubator.

Underdeveloped digestive system - in the event of premature birth the baby's digestive system and gastrointestinal tract are not fully formed, so the process of digestion and absorption of nutrients is broken. For this reason, the introduction of nutrient mixtures used intravenously (so-called total parenteral nutrition). After a few days, if the baby's condition is stable, used breastfeeds or mixtures of nutrients through a tube, as premature baby is not yet able to swallow or suck the milk by yourself.

Anemia - disorder caused by abnormally low concentration of red blood cells. Red blood cells carry hemoglobin, which in turn is the "transport" for oxygen. The normal level of red blood cells in newborns - more than fifteen grams. In severe cases of anemia is used a blood transfusion to the newborn.

Retroretalnaya prematurity syndrome (Terry) - a disease potentially capable of depriving the child of view. Very often the syndrome occurs in premature infants born in the twenty-fourth - twenty-six weeks of pregnancy, and only in rare cases - in preterm infants, gestational age of thirty-three - thirty-four weeks. Treatment of the disease depends on the severity of the disease and may include laser surgery or cryosurgery.

Necrotizing enterocolitis - a disease caused by blood circulation in any of the intestine, which in turn leads to an infection in the intestinal wall. The main methods of treatment - intravenous nutrition and antibiotics. Surgery is required in rare cases.

Sepsis (septicemia) - a bacterial infection of the blood character. If a bacterial infection spreads to the lungs, at the same time it may develop pneumonia. Septicaemia is very dangerous, but respond well to treatment with antibiotics.