Depression & Pregnancy – Symptoms, Risks, and Cure

You might be aware of postpartum depression, but have you ever heard about facing depression during pregnancy? Studies prove that 7% of women go through depression during their pregnancy phase. Pregnancy is not always happy moments and everything flowery, it’s a roller-coaster journey where a woman goes through a lot of hormonal, physical, and emotional changes.

However, the majority of the times depression during pregnancy gets unrecognized as the symptoms of depression during pregnancy are similar to that of pregnancy, they are as follows:

• Changes in sleep routine
• Changes in energy level
• Changes in appetite & libido
• Mood swings

The additional symptoms that indicate depression during pregnancy are:

• Extreme nervousness about your baby
• Unable to feel pleasure from the activities that you use to love
• Low self-esteem
• Putting on a few kilos
• Suicidal thoughts
• Smoking, consuming alcohol

Here are some of the risk factors that could lead to depression during pregnancy:

• History of depression in family
• Anxiety
• Life stress
• Unwanted pregnancy
• No moral support
• Intimate violence by a spouse

Up to what extent can depression affect your pregnancy?

Depression during pregnancy can be considered harmful for you as well as your child’s health. It can affect you in the following ways:

• Self-care is extremely important during pregnancy and depression takes away this ability from you. You start paying little or no attention to your health. This means you might even skip your medications, sleep routine, and diet which are important for maintaining your good health.
• Depression can even push you towards the consumption of harmful addictive substances like alcohol, tobacco, drugs, smoking habit, etc.
• It even restricts you from building a bond with your baby which in return affects the growth of your child. The child inside your womb can experience every single emotion of yours just through the rhythm, pitch, and stress in your voice. So if you ignore the signs of depression and keep on experiencing it for a longer period without getting it treated, you might not be able to develop that bond with your child. You might even end up feeling emotionally secluded.

Taking care of your baby is a must, but taking care of yourself is equally important. Here are the few easy tips you can follow to overcome depression during pregnancy:

• Do not rush over things, hold your calm and get things done at their pace. You need some “ME” time too, utilize that time and make yourself feel completely relaxed!
• Share your concerns, talk about what bothers you. Open up to your partner, family, friend, or anyone you might feel comfortable with. It is only when you ask for moral/emotional support, you get it.

Conclusion: If you are observing any of the above symptoms during your pregnancy, immediately get in touch with your doctor or visit the nearest maternity hospital and get the check-up done. If not to anyone else, share about the depression with your doctor, they can surely give the treatment best suitable for you and your baby.