A new baby is not always a bundle of joy
It is not just new mothers who suffer post-natal depression. New fathers are just as likely to experience the anxiety, stress and depression commonly called the baby blues, according to Australian researchers.
Picture taken from www.blogs.psychsterdata.comTo the extent that we have services that are geared to supporting women, we should be having similar efforts going into supporting men
- Baby with my girlfriend has been a curse in my life
- Signs of depression
- How to deal with moody men
- She can't fall pregnant and it's breaking my heart
- Woman breaks into home to breastfeed another mom's baby
- Sad because my boyfriend did not support my pregnancy
- Young girlfriend not ready to settle
- Scared to tell hubby ex-lover is our daughter's father
- My boyfriend got me pregnant, then dumped me
- My fiance had an affair and baby
- He lied, forced me to abort, then dumped me
- I'm glad I miscarried, so why am I depressed?
"What surprised us was that we were seeing rates of problems at the same level as what we were seeing in the mothers," chief researcher Jan Nicholson said of the groundbreaking study. "That was a surprise. We simply haven't looked for this before."
Professor Nicholson is research director at Melbourne's Parenting Research Centre and the study is published in the latest issue of the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.
She defined the baby blues as symptoms of being anxious, being worried, feeling stressed, feeling unable to cope, feeling blue and despairing of things getting better.
The team looked at mental health data for 5,000 new mothers up until their child turned 5 and at questionnaires returned by 3,471 of the fathers. In the first year of the child's life, 9.7 per cent of fathers reported symptoms of post-natal depression compared with 9.4 per cent of mothers - a statistically insignificant difference.
"We were able to determine that new fathers have a higher rate of these problems, a 40-per-cent higher rate, than men generally who are of a similar age and background," Nicholson said.
Men with lower incomes were at a 70-per-cent higher risk and the younger the father the higher the risk.
Those who displayed high levels of psychological stress when their babies were infants were much more likely to still be reporting psychological problems when their children were 2 and when they were 4.
Nicholson said that the study highlighted the need to get rid of the idea that only young mothers get the baby blues.
"There's often an assumption that with mothers their distress is related to biological changes, but also that early life services are very much geared around mothers and babies, and we really haven't looked at fathers closely before to see what's going on with them," she said.
"We think that to the extent that we have services that are geared to supporting women, given that the rate is the same for men, we should be having similar efforts going into supporting men."
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Comments
Pabi
fathers with baby blues or depression with one woman who is preg imagine those who made two women pregnant double the stress, but am not feeling for them they deserve that stress.Report Abuse
SAMONYOBINYOBI
i was so over the moon and was even signing " am a father to be"Report Abuse
Mtikiletyeni
" am a father to be" lol..lol...but no one deserve baby blues, thats y many father shoot the whole family bcz of these baby blues...Report Abuse
SAMONYOBINYOBI
@Mtikiletyenimaar babies are a blessings from God so why not celebrate their coming and thank God for that? nna i even wanted to witness his coming but was caught up in traffic and when i arrived at the hospital my abgel was already born, he's now a big boy doing 15 months, and am enjoying every single minute around him....
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eKapa
i have no problem abt baby blues or whatthere MOST person who is bringing stress is the Baby Mama,. she is giving me reasons to go and drink every weekend.
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McCase
What makes a father-to-be run away from his pregnant girlfriend? I mean literaly ignore her?Report Abuse
Bumboklaat
Most guys live life like a game, they sleep with women without protection knowing the risks and when the women become pregnant they run away. Total lack of responsibility and commitmentReport Abuse
MsKinkyakaKamaSutra
@McCaseWhat makes a father-to-be run away from his pregnant girlfriend? I mean literaly ignore her?
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Stupidity, ignorance, immaturity, being irresponsible............. cowardice, the list is endless
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Still_leShandis
- worse when its month end, when u as a driver u have to be extra carefull of peepoole suffiring 4rm this depression....Report Abuse
JeanClaude
@ eKapai have no problem abt baby blues or what
there MOST person who is bringing stress is the Baby Mama,. she is giving me reasons to go and drink every weekend.
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With you on that one.
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