Risk Factors for Postpartum Depression

Abstract

Postpartum depression has recently become an increasingly urgent problem of modern medicine and psychology. Traditionally, this condition is considered as a mental disorder that causes emotional, behavioral and physical changes associated with the postpartum period. Despite the presence of a fairly wide range of signs, the diagnosis of postpartum depression is still difficult for specialists. A woman experiencing this type of depression may find it difficult to realize her condition on her own and seek help. However, even if properly diagnosed, the very fact of having postpartum depression can be a negative experience for a woman. Often, young mothers feel fear or shame in front of family members and society, and hide their diagnosis. This creates additional barriers to getting the necessary help and support. The purpose of this review was to identify and analyze risk factors for the development of depressive disorders in women in the postpartum period, to study some manifestations of postpartum depression. The authors used the scientific databases Cyberleninkа, eLibrary and PubMed. The articles were searched for the following keywords: "postpartum period", "depressive disorder", "postpartum depression", "postpartum depression and risk factors", "development of depressive disorders in the postpartum period". The study included articles published over the past 5 years. After sampling by annotations and keywords, 53 articles were analyzed: 6 Russian speakers and 47 English speakers. The authors analyzed all the risk factors described in modern domestic and foreign literature, which were classified as unmodified and modifiable. The latter, in turn, were divided into modifiable by the mother and/or her family and modifiable only by health care.