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Antenatal depression, also known as prenatal Depression, is a form of clinical depression that can affect a woman during pregnancy, not to be confused with postpartum depression. It is estimated that 7% to 20% percent of pregnant women are affected by this condition. Antenatal depression is often caused by the stress and worry that pregnancy can bring, only at a more severe level. Other factors that can put a person at risk for antenatal depression is an unplanned pregnancy, difficulty becoming pregnant, history of abuse, and economic or family situations. Commonly, symptoms involve how the patient views herself, how she feels about going through such a life changing event, the restrictions on the mother's lifestyle that motherhood will place, or how the partner or family feel about the baby. Pregnancy puts a lot of strain on a woman's body, so some stress, mood swings, sadness, irritability, pain, and memory changes are to be expected. Antenatal depression can be extremely dangerous for the health of the mother, and the baby, if not porperly treated.

Signs & Symptoms

Antenatal depression is classified based on a woman's symptoms. During pregnancy, a lot of changes to mood, memory, eating habits, and sleep is common. When these common traits become severe, and begin to alter one's day to day life, that is when it is considered to be antenatal depression. Symptoms of Antenatal depression are:

• Inability to concentrate.
• Difficulty remembering.
• Feeling emotionally numb.
• Extreme irritability.
• Sleep problems that aren't related to pregnancy.
• Extreme or unending fatigue
• Desire to over eat, or not eat at all.
• Weight loss/gain unrelated to pregnancy.
• Loss of interest in sex.
• A sense of dread about everything, including the pregnancy.
• Feelings of failure, or guilt.
• Persistent sadness.
• Thoughts of suicide, or death.

Other symptoms can include the inability to get excited about the pregnancy, and/or baby, a feeling of disconnection with the baby, and an inability to form/feel a bond with the developing baby. This can drastically effect the relationship between the mother and the baby, and can drastically effect the mother's capacity for self care. Such inadequacies can lead to even greater risk factors for the mother. The symptoms can vary in lengths of time from woman to woman, depending on severity, and can be resolved almost instantaneously after certain events. One such example is that of Claire Kilroy, a writer for The Guardian, who recently wrote about her experiences with antenatal depression during her first pregnancy. She only encountered symptoms for the first few months of her pregnancy, and once she was actually able to see her baby on ultrasound, she said "Six months into the pregnancy and I want to meet him even more than David Bowie." Antenatal depression can be trigger and caused by various events within a woman's life. Some possible triggers include:

• Relationship problems
• Family or personal history of depression
• Infertility treatments
• Previous pregnancy loss
• Stressful life events
• complications in pregnancy
• History of abuse or trauma

Onset & duration of symptoms

Antenatal depression is usually caused by many factors. Usually, it is associated with the fear and stress of the pregnancy. Other times it can be caused by family situations, unintended pregnancy, economic/money issues, living situations, relationships with the father & family, Jobs and/or other responsibilities, and many more. Typically, depression symptoms associated with pregnancy are categorized as postnatal depression, due to the onset of symptoms occurring after childbirth has occurred. The following is a breakdown of when a group of various women began to feel the onset of symptoms associated with depression:

• 11.8 percent at 18 weeks
• 13.5 percent at 32 weeks
• 9.1 percent 8 weeks after the birth
• 8.1 percent 8 months after the birth

In a recen article posted by The BabyCenter, the authors stated that "For years, experts mistakenly believed that pregnancy hormones protected against depression, leaving women more vulnerable to the illness only after the baby was born and their hormone levels plunged." This is a possible explanation as to why antenatal depression has just recently been identified.

Causes

Antenatal depression affects about one in every eight women. It's becoming more prevalent as more medical studies are being done. Antenatal depression was once thought to simply be the normal stress associated with any pregnancy, and was waved off as a common aliment.

Treatment

Treatment for Antenatal depression typical follows the same course as many other mood related psychosis. There are some ways to soften, even prevent symptoms, which include;

• Taking it easy by relaxing when possible.
• Spending time with your partner.
• Talk about your fears & anxieties involving the pregnancy.
• Manage your stress.
• Counseling
• Medication

Medication is only prescribed if the symptoms are considered extremely severe. Once prescribed, anti-depressant medication has been found to be extremely effective in treating antenatal depression. Patients can expect to feel an improvement in mood in roughly 2 to 3 weeks. During pregnancy, there are two main kinds of antidepressants used during pregnancy; Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Currently, no abnormalities of the baby have been asscociated with the use of antidepressants during pregnancy.

See also

• Postpartum Depression
• Depression
• Pregnancy
• Mood swings