Depression Study: Younger Mothers At Greater Risk Of Depression During Pregnancy

Posted by Christina Crease

at November 18, 2008

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According to a study, younger mothers are at greater risk of suffering through depression, both at the time of their pregnancy and after they give birth to a baby.

Researchers suggested that maternal mental illness will also have a bad effect on their babies and put them in danger of developing emotional troubles.

It is of great concern that the problem could be particularly bad in Britain, which has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe with more than 40 in every 1,000 girls under 18 conceiving.

Lead author Cerith Waters, a researcher at the School of Psychology at Cardiff University stated that “Young mums can be very vulnerable and it is clear from these results that they need much more support, not only after the birth, but before as well.

“Programme designed to assist the young mums need to be multifaceted, and they need to start during pregnancy in order to take care of both the mothers and the child’s needs.” His research, presented at a British Psychological Society conference at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, examined figures from the South London Child Development Study.

In total 180 families took part in interviews and psychological assessments over 16 years to see the prevalence of maternal mental illness and its effects on children.

The study discover that women who gave birth in their teenage years or their early 20s were at highest risk to suffer from depression during and after pregnancy than those who became mothers later in life.

It concluded that this difference partially accounted for the greater rates of emotional troubles and cognitive deficits in their children.

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