A depressed woman suffering from postpartum depression has several risk factors associated with it. Women experiencing some of these factors have a higher risk of suffering postpartum depression than others. Many of these factors include infant temperament problems, history of depression, life stress, single parent, and low socioeconomic status.
If the baby is having problems because he or she is colic then this might cause sleep deprivation for the mom because the baby never sleeps. If the baby is crying all of the time then it might also make the mother think that she is a bad mom and inadequate as a parent. This can cause a mother to be depressed and frustrated if the baby is colic.
Being a single mom can lead to being a depressed woman after childbirth. Especially, if the pregnancy was unplanned the mother might be depressed with the idea of raising a child on her own and questioning her own capabilities. This is a major risk factor with postpartum depression. Another risk factor of a depressed woman after pregnancy can be if the mother suffers from being at a low socioeconomic status. This can occur because a mother wants to provide everything that she can for her child and she will be feeling extremely depressed about all of the things she might not able to do. She will want her child to have nothing but the best, but might have to dress her child in used clothes.
Other risk factors of a depressed woman might be having a low social support system. Maybe she doesn't have any friends because she is new to the area or no family around because they all live out of town. Maybe she is recently divorced and the life stress is causing her to be a depressed woman.
Having a history of depression may be another risk factor. This is because her body already is prone to be running low on serotonin levels and after childbirth is prime time for depression because of all of the changes with hormone levels.
Many risk factors can lead to a depressed woman after childbirth.
