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Mom and Baby Sharing The Blues?
It is common immediately following child birth for
women to experience the "baby blues", a condition
known as postpartum depression. Nearly 20 percent of
all new mothers suffer from this condition. Emory
University recently did a study, however, and
learned that the babies as well as the moms were
suffering from the same chemical imbalance. |
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Researchers found that a large percentage of the
babies of depressed mothers had the same high blood
level of the hormone cortisol (an indicator of
stress).
When a mother
suffers from PPD many times her response to the baby
is either to ignore the child, or overwhelm baby
with attention. Either extreme can cause the same
type of stress in baby that results in the high
levels of cortisol. Researchers found that mothers
who underwent treatment for the imbalance, were
quickly returned to their normal blood level, while
their children, who were left untreated, still
maintained a higher level of stress-causing cortisol. |
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If you are suffering from
post-partum depression, seek the advice of your primary care
physician. |
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