Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: What mental effects can a mother experience after childbirth?
Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes.[1][3] Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and changes in sleeping or eating patterns.[1] Onset is typically between one week and one month following childbirth.[1] PPD can also negatively affect the newborn child.[2]
Childbirth-related PTSD is not a recognized diagnosis in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders". Many women presenting with symptoms of PTSD after childbirth are misdiagnosed with postpartum depression or adjustment disorders. These diagnoses can lead to inadequate treatment.
During the subacute postpartum period, psychological disorders may emerge. Among these are postpartum depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and in rare cases, puerperal psychosis. Postpartum mental illness can affect both mothers and fathers, and is not uncommon. Early detection and adequate treatment is required. Approximately 25% – 85% of postpartum women will experience the "blues" for a few days. Between 7% and 17% may experience clinical depression, with a higher risk among those women with a history of clinical depression. Prevalence of PTSD following normal childbirth (excluding stillbirth or major complications) is estimated to be between 2.8 and 5.6% at 6 weeks postpartum.
This story takes place during an experiment concerning psychological effects of mental fatigue on those locked in a fallout shelter for a long period of time. Twelve subjects are locked in a nuclear fallout shelter to see how long they can endure before mental breakdown occurs. After the experiment Dr. Herbert Monroe (Burt Lancaster) tells the world about this terrifying experiment and its outcome.
Investigations into the prevalence of these practices have been conducted by the World Health Organization. Their studies demonstrate that this is a global problem. Women experience disrespectful, abusive or neglectful treatment during their childbirth when the birth occurs in medical and health facilities. The abusive relationship and trust between women and health providers can create a great reluctance to obtain medical assistance during birth. Disrespectful and abusive treatment can be experienced during pregnancy. During childbirth, a woman is very vulnerable and cannot protect herself. The results of this abuse can have very negative consequences for the infant and the mother.
Kim Yi-seol’s works feature a lot of stories that have to do with the relationship between the mother and the child, such as childbirth and childcare. Kim Yi-seol has said that she wouldn’t be able to write such stories if she hadn’t had the experience of childbirth. She has expressed that through pregnancy and giving birth, she has experienced how children are weak and insecure, and how their bonds with their mothers should not be broken. Her experiences of childbirth and childcare has also affected her thoughts on writing fiction. It made her realize the anxiety for completing the draft as well as a sense of duty. When she was writing Nappeun pi (나쁜 피 Bad Blood), she had started writing only 3 days after her childbirth.
Arcana's poetry collection "What if your mother" (2005) offers poems and monologues examining a constellation of motherhood themes including abortion, adoption, miscarriage and the biotechnology of childbirth, as well as the daily experience of mothering.
In her review of the collection in "Affilia" (see references), Merle Hoffman describes Arcana's poems as "maps of interior psychological and physiological journeys" that meet the unnamed experience (abortion) "with bold lyricism, passion, and creative imagery."
The majority of her mature texts, if not explicitly autobiographical, closely resemble the author’s life experiences. "Dark Spring" is a coming of age novel, of sorts, that follows a young woman as she has her first sexual encounters and experiences the first hints of mental illness. Several recurring archetypal characters appear in the book: the idealized father, the despised mother, and a troubled girl with masochistic tendencies. Disconcertingly, Zürn’s death seems to be foreshadowed in the text as the protagonist of "Dark Spring" eventually commits suicide by jumping out of her bedroom window. The posthumously published "The Man of Jasmine" "and Other Texts" and the expanded version,"The House of Illnesses: Stories and Pictures from a Case of Jaundice", are insightful examinations of mental collapse that detail Zürn’s psychological experiences and multiple hospitalizations. The nightmarish novella "The Trumpets of Jericho", a disturbing account of childbirth, was recently published in English.
A mental image or mental picture is the representation in a person's mind of the physical world outside that person. It is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of perceiving some object, event, or scene, but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses. There are sometimes episodes, particularly on falling asleep (hypnagogic imagery) and waking up (hypnopompic), when the mental imagery, being of a rapid, phantasmagoric and involuntary character, defies perception, presenting a kaleidoscopic field, in which no distinct object can be discerned. Mental imagery can sometimes produce the same effects as would be produced by the behavior or experience imagined.
Primary tokophobia is the fear and deep-seated dread of childbirth in women who have never experienced birth. It may pre-date pregnancy and can start in adolescence or begin in pregnancy. This may relate back to their own mother's experience or be triggered by exposure to childbirth without adequate explanation at a young age. It may also be experienced by women who have been sexually abused or raped; childbirth could trigger flashbacks in women who are traumatised.
Preparation for childbirth can effect the amount of pain experienced during childbirth. It is possible to take a childbirth class, consult with those managing the pregnancy, and writing down questions can assist in getting the information that a woman needs to help manage pain. Simple interaction with friends and family can alleviate concerns.
Perineal pain after childbirth has immediate and long-term negative effects for women and their babies. These effects can interfere with breastfeeding and the care of the infant. The pain from injection sites and possible episiotomy is managed by the frequent assessment of the report of pain from the mother. Pain can come from possible lacerations, incisions, uterine contractions and sore nipples. Appropriate medications are usually administered. Routine episiotomies have not been found to reduce the level of pain after the birth.
During pregnancy, family members take care to please the pregnant mother and protect her, and her unborn child, by relieving her of household duties. The pregnant woman's mother, grandmother or mother-in-law supervises meals. While pregnant, women may experience "Doladuka", or suffering of two hearts. This experience includes unusual desires to eat particularly sour fruits or indulge in specific acts. These wishes must be fulfilled to protect the fetus from physical or mental defects. Pregnant women avoid eating twinned foods as they are thought to lead to the birth of twins. Relatives and friends visit often to give gifts of fruits and boiled rice with curry wrapped in a banana leaf. Traditionally, baby showers are considered bad luck and gifts are not given until after the birth of the child. When preparing clothing for the new baby, care is taken to never complete the garment before the birth of the baby, as this assumes the birth is a certainty.
Her interest in obstetrics began after working with new mothers in hospital. At the time, standard childbirth procedures involved giving mothers large amounts of medication, and keeping them in hospital for 10 days after they gave birth. Bing's job was to give physical therapy to these postpartum mothers. After talking about her experiences at the hospital with one of her part-time private patients, she learned of Grantly Dick-Read's book "Natural Childbirth". She was unable to meet Read or other like-minded individuals because of the outbreak of World War II, so she taught herself as much as she could about obstetrics.
Most Rh disease can be prevented by treating the mother during pregnancy or promptly (within 72 hours) after childbirth. The mother has an intramuscular injection of anti-Rh antibodies (Rho(D) immune globulin). This is done so that the fetal rhesus D positive erythrocytes are destroyed before the immune system of the mother can discover them and become sensitized. This is passive immunity and the effect of the immunity will wear off after about 4 to 6 weeks (or longer depending on injected dose) as the anti-Rh antibodies gradually decline to zero in the maternal blood.
Epidural analgesia provides rapid pain relief in most cases. It is more effective than opioids and other common modalities of analgesia in childbirth. Epidurals during childbirth are the most commonly used anesthesia in this situation. The medication concentrations and doses are kept low to decrease the side effects to both mother and baby. When in labor the mother does not usually feel pain after an epidural but they do still feel the pressure. Women are able to bear down and push with contractions. Epidural clonidine is rarely used but has been extensively studied for management of analgesia during labor. Epidural analgesia is a relatively safe method of relieving pain in labor. In a 2018 Cochrane review which included 52 randomized controlled studies involving more than 11,000 women, where most studies compared epidural analgesia with opiates, epidural analgesia in childbirth was associated with the following advantages and disadvantages:
However, the review found no difference in overall Caesarean delivery rates, nor were there effects on the baby soon after birth. Also, the occurrence of long-term backache was no different whether an epidural was or was not used.
Depression often starts at young age and affects women more commonly than men. One or two mothers out of 10 have depression after childbirth. Depression also limits a mother’s capacity to care for her child, and can seriously affect the child’s growth and development. A study showed that exposure to maternal mental distress is associated with undernutrition in 9‐month infants in urban Pakistan.
Child birth was not considered a medical practice before the eighteenth century. It was mostly overseen by a midwife, mother, stepmother, neighbor, or any female relative. "Around the 19th and 20th Century, childbirth was considered dangerous for women." With the introduction of obstetrical forceps, this allowed non-medical professionals, such as the aforementioned individuals, to continue to oversee childbirths. In addition, this gave some of the public more comfort in trusting childbirth oversight to common people. However, the introduction of obstetrical forceps also had a negative effect, because there was no medical oversight of childbirth by any kind of medical professional, this exposed the practice to unnecessary risks and complications for the fetus and mother. These risks could range from minimal effects to lifetime consequences for both individuals. The baby could develop cuts and bruises in various body parts due to the forcible squeezing of his or her body through the mother’s vagina. In addition, there could be bruising on the baby’s face if the forceps' handler were to squeeze too tight. In some extreme cases, this could cause temporary or permanent facial nerve injury. Furthermore, if the forceps' handler were to twist his or her wrist while the grip was on the baby’s head, this would twist the baby’s neck and cause damage to a cranial nerve, resulting in strabismus. In rare cases, a clavicle fracture to the baby could occur. The addition of obstetrical forceps came with complication to the mother during and after childbirth. The use of the forceps gave rise to an increased risk in cuts and lacerations along the vaginal wall. This, in turn, would cause an increase in post-operative recovery time and increase the pain experienced by the mother. In addition, the use of forceps could cause more difficulty evacuating during the recovery time as compared to a mother who did not use the forceps. While some of these risks and complications were very common, in general, many people overlooked them and continued to use them.
Psychiatric disorders of childbirth are mental disorders developed by the mother related to the delivery process itself. They overlap with the organic prepartum and postpartum psychoses and other psychiatric conditions associated with having children. Symptoms include rage, or in rare cases, neonaticide.
Women who experience miscarriage are at risk of PTSD. Those who experience subsequent miscarriages have an increased risk of PTSD compared to those experiencing only one. PTSD can also occur after childbirth and the risk increases if a woman has experienced trauma prior to the pregnancy. Prevalence of PTSD following normal childbirth (that is, excluding stillbirth or major complications) is estimated to be between 2.8 and 5.6% at 6 weeks postpartum, with rates dropping to 1.5% at 6 months postpartum. Symptoms of PTSD are common following childbirth, with prevalence of 24-30.1% at 6 weeks, dropping to 13.6% at 6 months. Emergency childbirth is also associated with PTSD. Some women experience PTSD from their experiences related to breast cancer and mastectomy.
Childbirth is an experience that can strengthen the mother and child bond. Factors such as a traumatic birth, the mother's childhood, medical stress, lack of support and the influence of a spouse or partner can weaken the bond.
Funnyhouse of the Negro demonstrates how a person can be emotionally and mentally damaged by something that didn’t directly involve them. Sarah experiences self-hatred because of her blackness and what it represents in her life: her father; the man who raped her mother. The fact that Sarah's father kills himself because of her rejection serves to damage her further. The effect of having nobody to support her or tell her the truth of what happened between her mother and father (the end of the play implies that the story Sarah knew may not have been true) causes her to create multiple versions of herself to make sense of what was happening. To pathologize Sarah's experience in the play, both multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia seem possible. The audience can’t tell whether she’s speaking out loud when she interacts with these characters, which would differentiate those two disorders. It's hard to distinguish whether or not the audience is experiencing the play through her head or if it's happening in the real world. Either way, Sarah has mental and emotional issues that ultimately lead to her death.
Maternity blues, also known as baby blues and postpartum blues, is a transient condition that 75-80% of mothers could experience shortly after childbirth with a wide variety of symptoms which generally involve mood lability, tearfulness, and some mild anxiety and depressive symptoms. Baby blues is not postpartum depression, unless it is abnormally severe.After the placenta is delivered, the placental "hormone factory" shuts down causing radical changes in hormone levels, and the woman can suffer symptoms due to withdrawal from the high pregnancy levels of estrogen, progesterone and endorphins. Combined with this shift in hormone levels is the physical, mental and emotional exhaustion - as well as sleep deprivation typical of parenting a newborn. All of these factors contribute to the condition.
Holmes's major interest is in mental imagery, its effect on emotion, and how it can be used in cognitive behavior therapy to increase the effectiveness of treatments for anxiety and mood disorders. With Andrew Matthews, Holmes outlined three different ways that mental imagery alters emotional experiences. First, mental imagery engages the same neurocircuitry that underlies the processing of sensory signals, which serves to direct attention towards potentially threatening stimuli, for example. Second, as a consequence of the overlapping neurocircuitry, one is able to mentally place oneself in an emotionally arousing situation and experience heightened emotions as if the situation were real. Third, the act of remembering past experiences may bring up emotions as if one were reliving the experience (autonoetic consciousness). 
Physical exertion of the proper level can lead to an increase in performance of a mental task, like doing mental calculations, performed afterward. It has been shown that during high levels of physical activity there is a negative effect on mental task performance. This means that too much physical work can decrease accuracy and output of mental math calculations. Physiological measures, specifically EEG, have been shown to be useful in indicating mental workload. Using an EEG as a measure of mental workload after different levels of physical activity can help determine the level of physical exertion that will be the most beneficial to mental performance. Previous work done at Michigan Technological University by Ranjana Mehta includes a recent study that involved participants engaging in concurrent mental and physical tasks. This study investigated the effects of mental demands on physical performance at different levels of physical exertion and ultimately found a decrease in physical performance when mental tasks were completed concurrently, with a more significant effect at the higher level of physical workload. The Brown-Peterson procedure is a widely known task using mental arithmetic. This procedure, mostly used in cognitive experiments, suggests mental subtraction is useful in testing the effects maintenance rehearsal can have on how long short-term memory lasts.