Pregnancy and Depression: Discover the Worrying link Between Depression and Pregnancy.

If you are looking information on pregnancy and depression and how they are related, then you will want to read this article. In this article we will talk about the causes of depression in a woman who has given birth, as well as the three types of depression that may affect a new mother.

It is not uncommon for a new mother to develop some form of depression after giving birth to a child. If she does develop this condition the degree to which she is affected by it can vary from mild to severe. There are three types of depression that a new mother may develop and we take a closer look at each of these later on in this article.

So what causes a new mother to develop depression? Experts believe that there are quite a few factors involved in the development of this condition these include: the stress of giving birth, a stressful event occurring during birth, and hormonal changes. Hormonal imbalances cause chemical changes to occur in the brain and as a result a new mother will experience the symptoms of depression.

These symptoms include: panic, anxiety, weight loss or weight gain, fatigue, excessive or insufficient sleep, excessive eating, loss of appetite, mood changes, irritability, and suicidal thoughts. A depressed woman will not display all of these symptoms at the same time, rather she will only experience some of them.

One of the hormones responsible for causing these symptoms is thyroid hormone. When the levels of this hormone are low depression rears its ugly head. If the new mother suffers from low levels of thyroid hormone she will be administered medication which can correct the imbalance.

Now we’ll take a look at the different types of depression that affects new mothers. These include baby blues, postpartum psychosis, and postpartum depression. Let's take a look at these in a bit more detail.

Baby blues is very common in new mothers it usually occurs a few days after she has given birth. This form of depression is characterized by extreme emotions, for example the sufferer feels extremely happy or extremely sad, she may also break out into unexplainable crying. Fortunately this type of depression is not too serious and usually resolves itself within two weeks.

Postpartum psychosis is a more serious type of depression than baby blues, fortunately it affects less than 1% of new mothers. The symptoms of this condition include self-neglect, hallucinations, confusion, strange behavior, and illogical thoughts about the newborn child. These illogical thoughts mean the mother may be a danger to her child. If a woman develops this she will need to be treated immediately, she must also be supervised at all times in order to make sure she does not hurt herself or her baby.

Postpartum depression is also a serious form of depression. It is very common as it affects roughly 1 in 7 women. The problem with this condition is that it is very difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are very similar to the normal changes that occur during pregnancy.

Now that you have read this article you should be able to recognize the three types of depression that affect a woman after pregnancy.

For more information on depression head over to http://www.depressionfactsonline.com where you can also find out about post partum depression and clinical depression symptoms