Pregnancy is a stage that many women enjoy and expect with joy. However, in some cases it is not so, and feelings like depression and anxiety are present during it. And in reality, this is more common than we think, since one in four women is considered to suffer from anxiety or depression while pregnant.
In fact, it seems that these conditions are increasing, as a recent study found that suffering from depression in pregnancy is now more common than in previous generations.
Published in JAMA Network Open, the studio analyzed the prevalence of symptoms of prenatal depression in two generations of pregnant mothers, to know if really the cases of pregnancies where the mother suffered depression were increasing as suspected.
This was done through a longitudinal study that included 2,390 women who were pregnant between 1990 and 1992, and 180 women who were pregnant between 2012 and 2016. It was found that depression during pregnancy was indeed more common in the second generation, than in the first.
From the first generation of mothers, whose average age was 22.1 years at the time of pregnancy, the results showed that 17% of them had high symptoms of depression. In the case of the second generation, with an average age of 22.8 years, 25% of them presented these symptoms.
All the women who participated in the study filled out questionnaires with the same questions during their pregnancy, and shows that more participation of the family, health professionals and society in general is currently needed to help and support pregnant women who are going through this disease.
Remember that too it is important to take care of the mother's mental health in pregnancy, as various studies have found that this could negatively affect the baby. If you are pregnant and have symptoms of depression, approach your doctor so I can help you, remember that you are not alone.
