Postpartum Depression Decreases a Mother's Chance of Having More Than 2 Children

The number of new mothers suffering from postpartum depression is rising and has affected the lives of so many families. In a new research, it was revealed that postpartum depression (PPD) is something new mothers should not take lightly.

A British study revealed that postpartum depression can negatively affect female fertility the same way as having birth complications. As a matter of fact, the study discovered that women who suffered from symptoms of depression within 12months of giving birth have lesser chance of having more than 2 children, even more if they experience a traumatic birth.

According to hngn.com, lead researcher Sarah Myers and her team at the University of Kent's School of Anthropology and Conservation said that having postpartum depression at both first and second birth had the second largest effect size on having live births, and even smaller within the range of major birth complications.

The researchers examined 300 women born between 1930 and 1967 who were living in industrial Western countries while rearing their children. They found that postpartum depression left a significant, long-term effect on families. "The survey was designed to gather complete reproductive histories and retrospective measures of PPD to measure the effects of PPD on fitness," wrote Myers and her team. "The hypothesis that PPD is detrimental to fitness is assessed using Mann-Whitney U tests on completed fertility. Binary logistic regression modeling is used to test the hypothesis that PPD reduces the likelihood of parity progression," they added.

The survey revealed that mothers with PPD suffered from essentially lower fertility levels compared to those moms who have never experienced any symptoms of depression. This unexplainable event was noticed in women who started exhibiting the symptoms after having her first child, parents.com reported. However, they also found that even though the likelihood of having a 3rd child is low for these mothers, it did not affect the chances of her having a second child.

"Our results call into question adaptationist arguments, contribute to the growing understanding of the importance of emotional wellbeing to fertility decision-making, and given the economic consequences of markedly below replacement fertility, highlight a potential new source of financial incentive to invest in screening and preventative measures to ensure good maternal mental health," researchers wrote.