Urinary Incontinence - Risk Factor for Postpartum Depression

According to a recent study women with urinary incontinence after delivery are twice as likely to develop postpartum depression as those without incontinence.

Postpartum depression negatively affects the mother, child, partner, and other children in the family. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, up to 20 per cent of new mothers experience postpartum depression and an estimated 10 to 35 per cent of women will experience a recurrence of postpartum depression.

Stress Incontinence About
Stress incontinence is the most common type of urinary incontinence. Women are more prone to it than men.

In their research, appearing online in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sword and her colleagues set out to examine the relationship between mode of delivery and postpartum depression at six weeks following hospital discharge. They evaluated almost 1,900 new mothers. One-third had C-section deliveries.Almost eight per cent had postpartum depression at six weeks after discharge.

The research team found no association between postpartum depression and mode of delivery, and this finding is consistent with previous studies.

But their investigation did show the five strongest predictors of postpartum depression are the mother being less than 25-years-old; the mother having to be readmitted to hospital; non-initiation of breastfeeding; good, fair, or poor self-reported postpartum health; and urinary incontinence or involuntary urination.

Urinary Incontinence in women - Stress Incontinence
Rehabilitation of the pelvic floor muscles is the common goal of treatments through the use of pelvic muscle exercises, weighted vaginal cones and pelvic floor electrical stimulation.

"We were surprised to find that urinary incontinence is a risk factor for postpartum depression," said Sword. "Urinary incontinence following childbirth has not received much attention as a factor contributing to postpartum depression and we do not yet fully understand the reasons incontinence is linked to depression."

Sword notes that urinary incontinence is not an uncommon problem after giving birth, and although women may be embarrassed by this issue, it is important that they talk to their health care providers about their concerns. She adds that health professionals should also be proactive and ask women about any bladder problems as part of their postpartum assessments, as it is important to identify problems early so that appropriate action can be taken to improve symptoms and women's well-being.

Quiz on Depression
The World Health Organization reports that depression is one of the main causes of disability affecting about 121 million people worldwide. More tragically, it claims around 850,000 lives every year. Hence, it is important that we understand this affliction to help ourselves or our loved ones to cope and, hopefully, resolve it. How well do you know the facts about depression? Take this quiz and find out.

Source-Eurekalert

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