Depression in pregnancy? Find out in time

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Depression in Pregnancy
Pregnancy Depression Test
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Depression in Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a stage that we moms go through where our emotions seem to be on a roller coaster, they change drastically, constantly, there is a time where we can feel the happiest women and others where we feel discouraged, ugly or sad without knowing exactly why.

Women who before becoming pregnant felt emotionally unstable with a predominance of sadness, are candidates to go through a depression in pregnancy that if not properly intervened, can extend to a postpartum depression.

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Between 14 and 23% of mothers have depression during pregnancy.

Depression in pregnancy is extremely dangerous, detrimental to the development of the child as well as to the pregnant woman herself.

Both because of the hormonal changes that the mother may experience, and because of the lack of energy to take care of herself and keep the baby healthy in the womb, which can present difficulties during pregnancy and birth.

For example, depression can lead to poor nutrition, smoking or other stress symptoms in pregnancy, which certainly affects the baby directly. Therefore, we must be able to know the symptoms in order to intervene in time depression in pregnancy or even prevent it.

Remember that during pregnancy, emotional health is just as important as physical health.

Pregnancy Depression Test

You can then take a test to see if you are experiencing depression during pregnancy, wait while you are charging:

Important: This test does not replace the consultation with a professional.

What is depression in pregnancy?

Depression in pregnancy is a mood disorder, where the person has a significant decrease in normal functioning, even adopting risky behaviors during pregnancy such as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol or not eating, by the predominance of sadness most of the day almost every day.

This sadness weakens us, we feel that we do not have the strength to do things, so we can take an automatic behavior before the routine and taking advantage of work breaks to lock ourselves in the house and not get out of bed anymore.

Depression in pregnancy is a chemical disorder that affects us both physically and emotionally.

Depression goes beyond just feeling sad and weak in the body, because it has a neurological implication because the level of serotonin is deficient in the brain, being this one of the main chemicals in our brain to regulate properly the mood.

Because of this, depression presents emotional, motor, and autonomic symptoms in the mother with depression in pregnancy.

Depression in pregnancy is extremely dangerous for both breast and baby

Symptoms of Depression in Pregnancy

Depression in pregnancy has the same symptoms as any other depression, which is not the same as just feeling sad.

Remember, sadness is an emotion that we can all feel at any time in our lives, and depression is a psychological disorder that involves neurological factors and needs treatment, where sadness is a part of this disorder.

Symptoms of depression in pregnancy must persist for 2 weeks or longer to be diagnosed as depression

Let's look at the symptoms that are taken into account to diagnose depression in pregnancy.

Sadness prevails throughout the day almost every day with or without meaning.
Significant loss of interest in doing things or routine. Depression in pregnancy can occur with the fulfillment of the routine automatically, where the mother goes to work and does the punctual, showing herself as a robot at work.
He doesn't take pleasure in doing things. For example, if before pregnancy I used to attend dance classes and enjoyed them enormously, when you fall into depression in pregnancy you no longer feel pleasure in dancing and you even abandon the activity for loss of interest and pleasure.
Lots of sleep or tormenting insomnia.
We feel that we do everything slow, we eat slower than normal, we walk very slowly, we take much longer to process thoughts and ideas.
Loss of appetite, being one of the most delicate symptoms in pregnancy, because when the mother is unable to feed properly, the baby can be born with low weight, affecting its development.
Feelings of guilt that haunt us, guilt for any situation where we usually do not have to. This guilt is complicated to see as something foreign to us, because we cling to the idea that because of our fault happened.
A feeling of uselessness, that "you're no good for nothing" that haunts us so much.
Almost no attention during depression in pregnancy, so both concentration and memory are affected, because not paying attention to the information we receive we can not store it.
Recurring ideas about the death of others and our own. Thinking of strangers who have taken their own lives or lost them, as well as thinking of "What would happen if I died? No doubt, when the person has had such ideas recurrently is a great alarm signal that needs to be intervened promptly, as suicide begins to become a very viable option in the mom with depression in pregnancy.

Symptoms of depression in pregnancy must be able to persist for 2 weeks or longer to be diagnosed as depression.

Insomnia or excess sleep is a symptom of depression in pregnancy

Does depression in pregnancy affect the baby?

Depression in pregnancy affects the development of the baby, although there is no definitive information on the effect of depression from mother to baby, there have been some studies where low birth weight in babies is a predominant factor when depression in pregnancy occurs.

Depression in Pregnancy Affects Baby's Development

When the mother is depressed during pregnancy, they tend to adopt behaviors that do generate verifiable risks, such as cigarette smoking, drug and alcohol consumption.

In addition, we could see that one of the symptoms of depression in pregnancy is the loss of appetite so the mother does not feel motivated to feed herself and decides not to eat or not do properly, the baby being affected by developmental complications from fetal malnutrition that causes brain dysfunctions and body growth.

In addition to experiencing different emotions, chemicals are released that affect the baby's development during pregnancy. How do babies feel in the womb?

What to do in the face of depression in pregnancy?

The treatment of depression in pregnancy is usually quite particular, because the use of medication is extremely delicate in mom, being the subject of important discussions between specialists. Treatment depends on the level of depression we have, which is identified by a psychologist or psychiatrist.

We will show you some methods of intervention for depression in pregnancy_

Mild or moderate depression

The following methods of intervention may be used to treat mild or moderate depression.

Personal psychotherapy, where the person can have a professional accompaniment, follow up on the depression and reduce it through the person's own knowledge. This method should always be present when dealing with depression.
Support groups are a variation of therapy where we can learn about and work on our depression through the experiences of other pregnant mothers who are going through the same thing.
Recreational, outdoor, or activities mom used to like before depression in pregnancy.

Major depression

Major depression presents a strong intensity of symptoms that must be treated urgently and in the following way:

Use of medications prescribed by the psychiatrist and with caution that the specialist will take for treating a pregnant patient.
Personal psychotherapy, in addition to medication is necessary psychotherapy because although medications reduce symptoms, the center of depression is psychological, so both psychotherapy and medication must work together.

Depression in pregnancy is extremely delicate because it merits immediate intervention, since the lives of mother and baby are at high risk, where suicide becomes a viable option for the mother when depression in pregnancy is not diagnosed and treated in time.

The possible use of medication is limited to major depression to protect the health of the baby, but psychotherapy is vital for any level of depression in pregnancy.

If you are suffering from depression during pregnancy, it is best to consult with a specialist for your well-being and that of your baby.

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