Mikayla Wade

Ms. Bonner
English 1120
17 October 2023

The effects of Postpartum Depression and Child Development

You spent nine months creating the perfect addition to your family and now you have your

bundle of joy here in your arms but for some reason you don’t feel… happy. At first it’s just the

“baby blues” but it’s been a few weeks and you still don’t feel better, why is that? Postpartum

depression (PPD) is an unfortunate reality for many effecting one in seven women within the

first year of giving birth. There are many reasons a woman may develop PPD, women who have

a history of depression and anxiety are more likely to develop PPD, hormonal changes, Lack of

social support, and lifestyle. We will briefly dive into the effects of PPD on the mother, but how

do the symptoms of PPD effect the newborn/infants cognitive and emotional development? Is

there a connection between PPD, mother-infant connection, and overall child development?

In an article titled “Postpartum depression” published on the National Library of Medicine

and written by Saba Mughal, Yusra Azhar, and Waquar Siddiqui, we are given a lot of

information and background on what postpartum depression(PPD) is. Firstly, they explain the

difference between the baby blues and PPD. Baby blues are classified as a range of emotions that

the new mom feels from sadness and bouts of weeping to happiness and being overjoyed. These

highs and lows should start to level out slowly over a two-week period and typically a new mom

tends to recover from these feelings quickly but if the feelings continue this is when it can be

classified as PPD. Early in the article we are also introduced to the idea that PPD effects the

mother and her ability to interact and build a relationship with her infant. This article in its

entirety has a lot of

Mikayla Wade
Ms. Bonner
English 1120
17 October 2023

great information on the effects of PPD for the mother, what the symptoms of PPD are, and who

is most susceptible.

A study titled “Mother-infant relationship and its Predictors” written by Masoomeh

Darvishvand, Zahra Bostani Khalesi, and Seyedeh `Marzieh Rahebi is study on how the

relationship between a mother and her infant affects the child long-term. This study starts by

explaining what a good healthy bond creates for the child, such as positive personality traits,

behavior of the child in social situations, and social skills in general. This article also gives great

insight on what will happen if there is a negative connection between the infant and mother and

how that will affect this child not only cognitively but also physically, they observed that these

children we're more likely to have memory issues, higher rates of depression, and higher rates of

anxiety as they grew up all do to the reduced size of many structure in the brain. It was also

observed that this individuals with a poor mother infant relationship we're more likely to display

aggression towards others and even act violently.

In the article titled “The importance of early bonding on the long-term mental health and

resilience of children” written by Robert Winston and Rebecca Chicot we get a little more

insight on why it is important to bond with a newborn and infant and what the positive effect of

this relationship is. This article goes into the science of the brain and just how crucial the first

three years of life are, highlighting that within the first three years the brain grow at an

accelerated rate and is only 10% away from its adult size. This rapid growth means that babies

from the moment they are born their brain is being hardwired and tons of new connections are
Mikayla Wade
Ms. Bonner
English 1120
17 October 2023

being made instantly. They discuss how love is the main thing a child needs for a healthy

development, this means giving the child the time, attention, and comfort. The authors of this

article highlight the “millions” of connections that are being made and how negative interactions

or the lack of these interactions between mother and baby mean these connections never took

place leading to difficulties later in life.

I have read many articles and journals on this topic and all of them had key information, but

these specific articles highlighted and answered my main question, does postpartum depression

affect the child’s development? It not only gave me the answer but added emphasis on why this

relationship is crucial and how a mother suffering from PPD struggles to create this relationship

and bond. It is also important to note that these articles, mainly the first one, discusses why PPD

goes unmentioned leading to it being untreated. There is definitely a “snowball effect” between

the two.
Mikayla Wade
Ms. Bonner
English 1120
17 October 2023

Work cited:

Mughal, Saba, et al. “Postpartum Depression - Statpearls - NCBI Bookshelf.” Start Pearls, U.S.
National Library of Medicine, 7 Oct. 2022, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519070/.

Darvishvand, Masoomeh, et al. “Mother-Infant Relationship and Its Predictors.” JBRA Assisted
Reproduction, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 17 Jan. 2022,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8769182/#:~:text=In%20addition%2C%20the
%20lack%20of,et%20al.%2C%202020).

Winston, Robert, and Rebecca Chicot. “The Importance of Early Bonding on the Long-Term
Mental Health and Resilience of Children.” London Journal of Primary Care, U.S.
National Library of Medicine, 24 Feb. 2016,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5330336/.