Near and Long-Term Effects of Postpartum Depression on Children and Mother & Infant Relationship
As many as 80% of mothers experience “baby blues”. Symptoms of “baby blues” can range from anxiety, depression, crying spells, difficulty making decisions, difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, and easily becoming frustrated and angry. While these effects typically onset a few days after birth and tend to last several days to two weeks, they are not usually severe enough to warrant treatment.
However, if mothers (or partners) experience these symptoms with increasing frequency prolonged over three to four weeks or more it can signal postpartum or postnatal depression. We typically see onset of this type of depression on average one to three weeks after a birth, but symptoms can start anytime within the first year after childbirth. Postpartum depression is estimated to affect 10% of women in wealthier countries and even greater percentages in less economically stable areas.
Untreated postpartum depression has negative effects on mothers, families, and children. Mothers who do not seek help for postpartum depression may be more prone to weight problems, alcohol and drug use, relationship problems, breastfeeding problems, and/or persistent depression as compared to mothers who receive treatment.
Maternal postpartum depression (PPD) can also affect infant health, development, and long-term mental health. Physically, these babies showed increased incidences of diarrhea, colic, stronger infant pain response, febrile disease, three-fold increased mortality rate within the first six months, and approximately two-fold increased mortality rate within the first twelve months. Infant sleep is also affected with studies showing that mothers with more severe symptoms were associated with increased infant night-time wakenings and more problematic sleep patterns.
Three of seven studies showed significant effect of maternal PPD on motor development with decreased fine and gross motor development in infants 12-18 months of age. Since home environment, especially economics, can play a part in infant development other studies emphasized that home environment remained a significant predictor of infant development.
Seven of eleven studies indicated a significant and negative association between maternal PPD and cognitive development of babies. Language development was found to be negatively impacted in six of thirteen studies. Four of these indicated indirect effect of maternal PPD, while two indicated a direct effect. Maternal depression correlated to delayed language skills at 36 months in one study, with the effects of depression on care-giving being stronger among less-advantage socioeconomic groups.
Four of five studies showed significant effect of maternal depression on emotional development of children. Infants of mothers with PPD had a significantly higher fear score and higher degrees of emotional disorders including anxiety. Results of four studies on social development were incongruent. While one study showed decreased social development of infants at 9 months of age, others stressed impact of home environment.
Of twelve studies on behavioral development, ten demonstrated significant effect of maternal PPD on behavior symptoms in children. Research showed increase in behavioral problems at 2 years, more mood disorders and difficult temperament, internalization of problems, lower scores on the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Development Profile, less mature regulatory behavior, and higher fear scores that increased behavioral inhibition.
Notably, eleven studies indicated negative effect of maternal PPD on mother-to-infant bonding. Results indicate that women with severe PPD at 4 weeks after birth were more likely to experience poor bonding. Depressed women showed consistently greater impairment in bonding with their infants at all time points studied. These women showed less closeness, warmth, and sensitivity towards their child. They also experienced more difficulties with their newborn during the first year. Mothers with PPD were more likely to have an insecure state of mind regarding attachment with more negative perception of their relationship with their child. Four studies demonstrated negative effect of maternal PPD on infant-mother bonding with infants more likely to be insecurely attached. With severity of depression, infants scored lower with respect to seeking warmth from their mothers.
In addition to these near-term effects, evidence suggests that both chronic and severe maternal PPD increases long-term negative outcomes in children. In addition to the above mentioned delay in cognitive and language development, disorganized or insecure attachment, higher rates of behavioral problems, children with mothers with PPD also have lower grades and higher rates of depression during their latter teen years at 16-18 years of age.
Women who experienced long term severe depression from 2-8 months after childbirth were most vulnerable as were their children. The women were more likely to experience depression up to eleven years after PPD. Children of these women have a 2-fold increased risk of lower math scores at age 16, 4-fold greater risk of behavioral problems between the age of 3 and 4, and 7-fold higher risk of depression at age 18.
Research shows that paternal PPD has less of an effect on children and that reducing symptoms of maternal PPD can reduce adverse effects on the children. If you’re concerned that you may have postpartum depression learn more about early warning signs of postpartum depression in our earlier blog post here.
If you have suicidal thoughts or are in immediate risk
If you or someone you know has suicidal thoughts, get help right away through one or more of these resources:
- Reach out to a close friend or loved one.
- Contact a minister, a spiritual leader, or someone in your faith community.
- Call a suicide hotline number — in the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) to reach a trained counselor.
- Make an appointment with your doctor or a mental health professional.
- Call 911
Danielle Older, MSW, LISW-S, CCTP
Danielle is one of our maternal mental health therapists and the founder of River Root Counseling. Her therapeutic style is individual, evidence-based, and unique to best serve each individual client. Danielle will work with you, at your pace, cheering you on and empowering you as you accomplish your therapeutic goals. Danielle values the therapeutic relationship and works to make each session beneficial and helpful for her clients. Danielle is a mother herself and understands the roller coaster that parenting, and motherhood, can sometimes feel like.
Call River Root at 330-595-4563
Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervision Designation (Ohio) – I.2002068-SUPV
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP)
Bachelor’s of Social Work – University of Akron
Master’s in Social Work – Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Schedule a consultation here.
Find references to research with the following links:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745506519844044