FRIDAY, Oct. 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) – Postpartum depression is usually considered something latest mothers experience, but fathers also can suffer from these feelings when entering this phase of life.
A pilot study from the University of Illinois Chicago suggests latest dads also needs to be screened for the condition. Addressing their health might also be a very important tool for improving the maternal health crisis, provided that the physical health of those parent partners are so intertwined, in keeping with the authors.
“Lots of dads are stressed. They’re scared. They’re combating balancing work and parental and partner responsibilities,” said lead writer Dr. Sam Wainwright, an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics. “Men are sometimes not doing well, but nobody is asking them about it.”
For the study, researchers interviewed and screened 24 dads using a tool commonly used for screening mothers. About 30% of dads were positive for postpartum depression.
“A lady in danger for postpartum depression is far more prone to get postpartum depression if she has a depressed partner,” Wainwright noted in a university news release.
Nearly 90% of study participants were from groups facing structural racism and social aspects corresponding to crime and poverty that may worsen mental health. This will have led to more men screening positive for depression than in past studies, which have seen a variety of 8% to 13%.
The findings were recently published within the journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.
The research was done at UI Health’s Two-Generation Clinic, which offers mothers primary care after they take their kids to the doctor.
Fathers haven’t been a part of this, but Wainwright said they’d often hear comments from dads corresponding to, “I’m really stressed, but I don’t want my partner to know because I’m here to support her.”
Wainwright is now talking to dads within the obstetrics waiting area, too, and screening for conditions like hypertension during these conversations.
He said the medical world struggles to attach with young men. Reaching them as they enter fatherhood presents a very important opportunity, Wainwright said.
Some men within the postpartum depression study who didn’t have a primary care physician are seeing Wainwright for medical care. Others have requested mental health services.
The goal of the research is to assist men stay healthy in order that their relationships and families are healthy, too, Wainwright explained.
“How can we show them that it’s vital to deal with yourself for the sake of your baby, for the sake of your partner and for your individual sake?” he said.
More information
The National Institute of Mental Health has more on depression.
SOURCE: University of Illinois Chicago, news release, Oct. 4, 2023