The article, “Birth Trauma, Widening our Knowledge of Postnatal Mental Health” discusses several aspects of mental health following labor and delivery and how mother and infant are affected by the mental aspects of anxiety or other problems that may arise during perinatal problems. There are over 4 million women worldwide who give birth on an annual basis. During pregnancy, it has been proven that maternal “stress and anxiety” can lead to a diminished quality of development for the infant after birth (Ayers and Ford, 2009). Postpartum depression may also lead to issues with the infant’s mother, spouse, and the child all relating to the depression stemming from the mother herself.
While only a mere 15% of pregnant mothers may find that they become depressed after their pregnancy is over, less than 5% of those women will go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder. This article goes on to describe that post anxiety disorders are much more common than typical PTSD in typical postpartum cases and discusses the problems with determining if and when a woman can be diagnosed with PTSD vs. anxiety symptoms following a typical newborn delivery.
In my personal case, we were thrown into a situation unexpectedly, I had a horrific experience in the delivery room, and remember the entire experience as a nightmare. The end result of delivering a still born additionally contributed to my experience most likely, but this article was an interesting read and I can say that I agreed with nearly all of what I read.
Source: Ayers, Susan, and Elizabeth Ford. "Birth Trauma: Widening Our Knowledge of Postnatal Mental Health." The European Health Psychologist. N.p., June 2009. Web. .