Risk factors for postpartum depression are pregnancy at the age below 18, or mothers experiencing stressful milestones in their lives, including illness, infertility and unemployment, doctors said. Other factors such as lack of relatives’ support and sympathy, especially from husbands, and family conflicts can also contribute to postpartum depression.

T.T.B.T, 21, from Quang Binh province, hospitalized on May 23, is an example. Her relatives said T was a cheerful and sociable person. She was a third-year student majoring in foreign languages at a university in Quang Binh when she had to suspend study to give birth.

She was under stress but her family said the pregnancy and childbirth process of the female student was normal. After giving birth, she received support from her husband and her mother.

The patient’s husband rarely showed attention and sympathy. However, their financial condition was good and they received support from parents.

Thirteen days after giving birth to a daughter, T suffered from insomnia. She slept only 3 or 4 hours each night, felt tired, lacked energy and did not want to talk to people. She sat alone and cried regularly.

This woman also had a poor appetite, and had negative thoughts. She did not pay attention to taking care of her child, did not show affection to the child, and became uncomfortable when hearing the child crying.

One day, her family members discovered that she tried to slit her stomach to commit suicide. She was brought to a hospital in Quang Binh where she received psychological treatment.

After 20 days of treatment, she got better. The woman talked more to her mother and relatives. She was discharged from hospital and took medicine as prescribed. However, at home, she yelled, got angry with people, and refused to take medicine. She was then taken to Bach Mai Hospital’s National Institute of Mental Health.

The patient was diagnosed with severe mental and behavioral disorders, in which postpartum depression predominates.

According to Hanoi-based Institute of Mental Health Director Nguyen Van Tuan, the institute last year received 27 women with postpartum mental disorders and some of them had ideas of suicide.

These are severe cases and the patients are brought to hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, there are still many more women with mild symptoms who are not hospitalized. In many cases, patients don’t talk about their illness and try to hide their problems from relatives, which worsens their condition. 

In other cases, patients feel tired, suffer from insomnia and have difficulty breathing and go to cardiovascular hospitals, where their real problem cannot be found.

Dr Vu Thy Cam, head of the Clinical Psychology Department, said that women experience major physiological and psychological changes after giving birth.

Postpartum depression begins within the first 4 weeks after giving birth. However, many studies have found that postpartum depression can start at any time within the first year after giving birth. Depression is an emotional disorder that seriously affects the health of women of childbearing age and different cultures, regardless of economic, social, educational or racial background.

In Europe, the postpartum depression ratio is 8.6 percent. In Asia, the postpartum depression ratio ranges from 3.5-63.3 percent. In Vietnam, the ratio is 11.6-33 percent.

Nearly 50 percent of women with postpartum depression are not diagnosed by medical experts. Eighty percent of women suffering from postpartum depression can fully recover, experts said.

Ngoc Trang