Study finds that new dads can also suffer from postpartum depression

Postpartum depression is the worst.

You've just given birth to a new baby and the last thing you need is an overwhelming sense of gloom that affects your whole life and how you connect to your baby. According to a new study, dads are almost as likely to suffer from postpartum depression as new mums. The research may come as a surprise but the study conducted by the Indiana University School of Medicine came up with findings to reinforce this claim. Researchers analysed around 9,500 parent responses from paediatric clinic visits and found that 4.4 percent of men showed signs of depression, next to five percent of women. The study suggests that men be screened as well as women in the weeks following their child's birth. The lack of sleep that comes with having a newborn, as well as the stress and disruption to your life and your emotions, can all contribute to feelings of depression. We tend to associate postpartum depression with women as they are the ones who give birth to the child. Women go through huge hormonal changes and emotional upheaval during pregnancy, birth, and the first weeks of their baby's life so it makes absolute sense to keep an eye on the mother's well-being. In fact, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists wants to move the postpartum screening from six weeks to three. But men have to deal with the aftermath of the birth just as much as women. Dr. Jennifer Ashton, chief medical correspondent for ABC News said:

"We talk so much about gender discrimination in medicine and how women are often undiagnosed and undetected for the same disease or condition that men are. This is the opposite. We don't have our radar up to detect postpartum depression in men and we need to."