FEATURE
Postpartum The Perfect Storm
BY HEATHER M. ROSS
ALYONA JITNAYA/ISTOCK/GETTY
IMAGES PLUS; PAYNE PROVIDED
R esearchers from University of
Virginia(UVA) Health, John Hopkins
Medicine and Weill Cornell Medicine
discovered a potential contributor to post-
partum depression (PPD).

When autophagy (according to the
National Cancer Institute, the process cells
use to break down old, damaged or abnormal
proteins and other substances within cells)
is reduced, there is a direct ink to PPD.

Exploring this link between autoph-
agy and PPD might even help prevent
postpartum depression before the
baby is born.

“This is exactly why I study
PPD, because you can look
before people get sick and
see what’s different between
those who do get sick and
those who don’t,” says Jennifer
L. Payne, one of the aforemen-
Jennifer Payne
tioned researchers and vice
chair of research in psychiatry at
UVA Health.

“In women who went on to develop
PPD, their cells were demonstrating decreased
autophagy. They weren’t cleaning out debris
from their cells.”
As a condition that affects mental health,
PPD can feel scary and shameful to mothers
who know they should feel happy about the
birth of a child. It’s not always understood
why it occurs for some mothers and not
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others—so being able to identify the
propensity for PPD in individuals would
be significant.

Here is what we do
know about
postpartum depression,
including risk factors, related conditions
and symptoms.

What is Postpartum Depression?
Postpartum depression is a type of depres-
sion that sets in after giving birth. The
symptoms of PPD can include overwhelming
fatigue, irritability, anger, feelings of hope-
lessness, restlessness, difficulty bonding
with your baby and more, according to the
Mayo Clinic.

Mothers are encouraged to seek medical
attention if they see these symptoms
worsening, or not fading within a couple
weeks, if they are finding it hard to care for
their baby or complete everyday tasks or if
they are having thoughts of harming them-
selves or their baby.

“Postpartum depression is the most
common complication of childbirth, and
it has long-lasting repercussions for the
mother and children,” Payne says.

At Johns Hopkins, Payne helped establish
the Women’s Mood Disorder Center
to study hormone-triggered mood dis-
orders and their impact. Her expertise
includes women’s mood disorders, PPD,
premenstrual dysphoric disorders and
perimenopausal depression.




PPD occurs in between 6.5% and 20% of
women, most commonly within six weeks
after childbirth, according to the National
Institutes of Health. Payne says 10 to 15%
of women get sick with PPD within the
immediate postpartum period.

Postpartum depression can be com-
pounded by other factors as well.

Anneliese Lawton, 33, felt defeated,
overwhelmed and angry after combat-
ing PPD following the birth of her first
two children, and during her pregnancy
with her second.

Lawton’s second pregnancy was
complicated by a tumor, which was
wrapped around some of her facial
nerves— risking paralysis.

It wasn’t until after the birth of her
second child that she suffered a
breakdown, but Lawton says she survived,
learned to love herself and allowed herself
to be the mother she wanted to be.

Successful You” and through founding
the Renewed Freedom Center and Little
Thinkers Center.

‘You Can’t Self-Care
Yourself out of Trauma’
According to Lawton, it’s important for
mothers to get the help they need.

“You can’t self-care yourself out of
trauma. A bubble bath and getting your
nails done won’t fix it. It’s helpful in pre-
vention and recovery, but there’s a point
where you need the additional help. Don’t
be afraid to ask for that help,” she says.

That said, taking steps to reduce exter-
nal pressures can be beneficial. Social
media is a major component of why moth-
ers today feel so much pressure, she adds.

“We’re comparing ourselves to celebri-
ties and the moms down the street and in
our schools. I grew up in the 90s. We were
bombarded with what the perfect woman
was and what she looked like,” Lawton
says. “I feel like so many of us pivoted and
changed ourselves to fit a certain mold,
stuff that we saw on TV.”
MARIA PILAR MARTINEZ AGUERRI / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
The Perfect Storm
Jenny Yip, a psyschologist and mother
of 7-year-old twins, says the postpartum
period can be a “perfect storm” for
other mental health conditions as well.

Factors typically thought to contribute to
women developing postpartum depres-
sion, and other related disorders such as
postpartum anxiety and OCD, include
genetics, hormones and environmental
stressors, explains Yip, who experienced
postpartum OCD.

“I didn’t realize it was OCD in the begin-
ning until one of my colleagues pointed out
to me that it sounded like OCD,” Yip says.

Some of the early warning signs of post-
partum depression, according to Yip,
include changes in appetite or sleep and not
feeling like yourself. Another early warning
sign more specific to postpartum OCD is
intrusive mental images or thoughts about
catastrophic consequences or harm to you
or your baby.

Through exposure therapy, in which
“you expose yourself to the feared conse-
quence so you get corrective feedback, so
the fear isn’t as daunting,” Yip says, she
found a way to manage her OCD. She now
helps others through her book “Productive,
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