Introduction

Postpartum depression can occur in mother during the
postnatal period and can extend into longer periods. The postpartum depression
can cause distressed mood, weariness, loss of appetite, loss of normal sleep
patterns, anxiety and suicidal thoughts in mothers. The chance of women with
postpartum depression, to experience depression in future is up by 50 to 60 %.
Women with a history of mood depressions, or a family history with
psychological disorders have a high chance of suffering from depression. Some
of the other reasons for the postpartum depression are, stress factors such as
negative life incidents, poor marital relationships, having a physically
disabled child or with mental disabilities, lack of social support, drug abuse,
and hostile living conditions. Compared to the depressions which occur for
regular individuals, postpartum depression tends to be milder, with lower
levels of anxiety and agitation. The effects of postpartum depression on a
child is not confined to infancy. The effects can be seen even in a school aged
child or even in the adolescent stages.
Like in any health issues, the most effective way of
containing the postpartum depression is by preventing its occurrence. Education
sessions should be imparted to the mothers and pregnant women for helping them
prepare to face the challenges of parenting. Development of a strong
mother-child bond is absolutely necessary for the healthy development of a
child. Psychotherapy sessions, interventions to improve the parenting skills
and maternal sensitivity are available to improve the conditions of mothers who suffer from maternal depression.
Home visiting by health workers and nurses and analyzing the situations along
with giving expert advice can also help the effected mothers.
Types of effects for maternal depression
A mother’s responsive and sensitive care is crucial
for children’s optimal development. According to some available data about 13%
of women experience maternal depression problems. Maternal depression, also
known as prenatal depression make the mothers more lax, inconsistent and
disengaged with their child. This impaired parenting is of prime concern during
children’s early years when the mother's care and stimulation is required for
the development of the child. As a result, such improper and impaired parenting
can hinder the early development of child. Maternal depression is of great
social concern, and effective intervention approaches are required to prevent
or reduce its negative impact on child's development. The maternal depression
is associated with children’s developmental problems including impaired
socio-emotional, cognitive and behavioral functioning.
Socio-emotional functioning
Children of depressed mother are more likely to
express negative effects. Such children find it quite difficult to control their anger. They tend to have an
insecure attachment and poor interpersonal skills. Experiencing high stress
level is another characteristic of such children
Cognitive functioning
Children of the depressed mothers also show
impairment in cognitive development. Such children show less advanced language
development . The academic skills of the child tend to suffer. They have a
lower self-esteem, and display other cognitive vulnerabilities like depression
or other similar disorders.
Behavioral functioning
At the behavioral level, children of depressed
mothers are characterized as having increased sleep problems and have less
control over their anger and aggressive behavior. They are found to be less
cooperative and are less active. They are also at heighten risk of developing
internalizing (e.g., depression) and externalizing (e.g., aggressive behavior)
problem behaviors in comparison to children of non depressed mothers.
Better social and home environment can help in
reducing the effects of maternal depression. The paternal guidance and care can
improve the conditions of the child. In contrast, the conflicts between parents
can further degrade the conditions of children who are already victims of
maternal depressions
Effect of maternal depression on infants
Active interaction of infants and mother is
absolutely necessary for the development of infants. Depressed mothers display
some disordered interaction with the infant. These interactions can be hostile
or unresponsive type. In case of mother's hostile behavior, the infant
experience anger and they turn away from mother to avoid the hostility and
develop an angry and protective style of adjustment. The unresponsive mothers
on the other hand, are unresponsive to the child's needs and activities. The
children in such a situation, due to a lack of support and ineffectiveness from
the mother's side, finds it difficult to cope with the conditions and
challenges, thus becoming more withdrawn and laxative in character. The
children need the guidance and soothing presence of parents to develop ways to
regulate their emotions. The infants ate unable to regulate their emotions by
themselves. The cognitive development of Infants of depressed mothers is also affected adversely.
Such infants show patterns of abnormal behavior
and arousal. Their ability to keep clam and perform non social learning tasks
is affected adversely.
Effects of maternal depression on preschool children
Depressed mothers fail to imbibe the pressure felt
by a child. They fail to effectively solve problems faced by the children or
improve their mental regulations. The child cannot rely on the mother for
getting ample support or finding a viable solution for their problems. The
studies show that the victim children were passive in nature. They showed less
maturity and autonomous behavior. Such children are more vulnerable to
internalizing and externalizing problems . Children of depressed mothers have
low interaction sessions and they tend to respond adversely even to friendly
approaches. Their interest for physical play and engagements are minimal.
Studies shows that children who experience the
insensitive maternal interactions shows poor cognitive development and functioning.
According to some recent studies boys are found to be more affected by the
mother's untoward mental health conditions and interactions. Some other
concerned areas of cognitive development, such as cognitive-linguistic
functioning, ability of perception and performances are also found to be
adversely affected.
Effect of maternal depression on school age children
The child's adjustment capabilities depended on the
severity of maternal depression. The children of depressed mothers show
increased depression, anxiety and conduct disorders. The studies showed that
the risk of psychopathology in affected mother's children is very high compared
to others. The emotional and mental problems in mothers affect the learning and
academic performance of the children. Such children seems to develop attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) . The fact was discovered through a
detailed study in children of age group 4 to 17 years. The affected mother's
child shows lower IQ levels, attention problems and difficulties in
mathematical reasoning . They displayed a requirement for special education and
care. In addition, the boys are found to be more affected by these adverse
situations.
Effect of maternal depression on adolescent
The adolescent age of a person is the transitional
period. It is transition from childhood to adulthood. There is an increased
need of guidance and control during this phase of life. The inactive or hostile
behavior of mother will have a negative influence on the person. The adolescents with a
depressed parent shows high levels of depression and anxiety disorders. They
can develop certain behavioral disorders such as drug abuse, usage of liquor,
violent behaviors etc. Adolescent offspring's of depressed mothers developed
phobias and panic disorders. The attack of depression was more common in the
age group of 15 to 20. The learning disabilities like ADHD and lack of
concentration seen in school children also persists in the adolescent age. So
the academic performance suffer.
Risk factors
Contextual factors: Living conditions of a mother
and child contributes to the depressing state of mind in mother. Often the
conflicts between parents or stressful life events affects the mother's mental
stability. The support of other family members and economic condition of family
plays a major role in state of mind. Lack of education, social status and economic
stability can affect the efficiency of parents.
Role of fathers : The children of depressed mothers
tend to interact more with their father. In such situations paternal control
and guidance is of prime importance. The child tries to draw confidence from their
father. The father can act as a buffer between the child and the depressed
mother. He can be helpful is imbibing some pressure and making the situation
better.
Characteristics of the child: Sex differences have
determined the depth of effects due to maternal depression. As described
earlier, boys are found to be more affected by maternal depression. The
temperamental factors of the child decides upon how much a child gets affected
by the maternal depression. Children with better adaptive and cognitive
development can effectively utilize the availability of other resources to
negate the effects of maternal depressions. They can attract the attention of
other family members and receive care and guidance. The child can realize the
shortcomings or illness of their mother and make adaptations.
Treatment and
preventive methods
Preventive and Intervention Policies: To reduce the
effects of maternal depression on the children preventive and intervention
measures should be used. The parents should be educated about the positive
benefits of a healthy pregnancy. They should imparted with knowledge and skills
for child rearing and guidance. The recent researches emphasis on the
importance of interventions that helps in improving the parenting skills and
thereby improve the mother child interaction. The community workers and nurses
can make a regular home visits to make the mothers more sensitive about their
children's needs and development. They can increase the empathy and attachment
of mother towards her child. They can help in improving paternal involvement to
reduce the effects of maternal depression. The mothers who go through such
depression phase should be given extra care and emotional support by other
family members. The intervention practices have helped in making improvement in
mental health and development of affected children. While the interventions are
made, it should be considered that different policies and methods are required
for different situations. So the methods should be flexible and dynamic.
Antidepressants: The use of antidepressants to treat
the pregnant women should be done with utmost care. The chemicals can cause
damage to the fetus and may cause health issues to the new born. The usual
chemicals like tricyclic antidepressant can be replaced with less toxic
selective serotonin retake inhibitors. The chemicals which are used for
treatment should be imparted in maximum possible lowest of doses. The effect of
chemicals used by mothers can be seen in the newborns as these chemicals pass
on to the newborn from mother through breast feeding.
Role of Doctors: The maternal depression often go
unnoticed and so they are left untreated. The pediatrician or doctors who
examine the child and mother, can recognize the problems and risks at an early
stage and take appropriate steps. The doctors can provide valuable advice and
guidance to the depressed mothers along with medication to improve the
condition.
Conclusion
Maternal depression has been found to affect the
children of age group belonging to infancy up to adolescence. The lack of
maternal care effects the mental development of child. The ability of child to
cope with situations, problem solving capabilities, learning ability all gets
affected. Early detection and intervention methods are found to be helpful in
eliminating the depression in mothers. The most challenging factor about the
maternal depression is that, it often goes unnoticed. A constant monitoring of
health workers is required to alleviate the concerns raised by this issue. We
cannot altogether put such mothers on medication, because it can affect the
health of fetus.