Bringing Home Baby

Did you know that American men get postpartum depression nearly as often as women do?  Yup, the incidence rate for postpartum depression is 14% for women who give birth, 10% for dads, and somewhere around 15 % for adoptive moms (which is not statistically different from the 14% for birthing moms).  That’s a lot of postpartum depression going on after bringing home baby.  And it wasn’t always that way.  Nor are the figures that high everywhere in the world.  Depression is on the rise in our culture, and is increasing worldwide wherever countries and cultures start to take on our values and habits.   But depression can be prevented.  And so can postpartum depression.  Far from a biological given, the inevitable consequence of hormonal changes, depression can happen to anyone facing the massive emotional and social changes of bringing home baby—birth parents, adoptive parents, gay and lesbian parents as well as straight parents. 

Learn to identify and manage your risk factors for postpartum depression and keep yourself out of the pit by contacting DrSara for an appointment or consider finding a group near you.

To learn more about postpartum depression in dads, listen to this interview with internationally acclaimed researcer James Paulson on NPR.