Introduction
Children change the lives of their parents and also influence their relationships. Each period of raising children is essential, but the perinatal period is one of the most important for developing positive and stable relations between parents and children. The perinatal period includes pregnancy and the first postnatal year and might create different difficult situations for parents to cope with.
Mothers might experience postnatal depression because of insufficient emotional and practical assistance. Moreover, the rates of couple conflicts after the birth of a child increased, so this problem should be accurately researched. Parents face difficult life situations during and after children’s birth, such as depression, conflicts, and a lack of couple interactions, which negatively influence their society and their children’s mental health.
Literature Review
Much literature was researched to better understand the topic, and five primary sources were chosen. The chosen literature discusses the problems that might occur during pregnancy and might harm the infant. Also, information about parents’ challenges during the perinatal period and how to cope with them is illustrated. Great attention is paid to mothers’ and infants’ mental health and their connections. Lastly, the impact of disturbances in early parent-infant relationships and how to prevent or cope with them are discussed.
Methodology
The study was based on information analysis related to the topic; one practical situation was described, and its consequences were analyzed. The research aimed to study the possible problems during the perinatal period by using practical examples and relevant sources to explore these examples and provide the necessary solutions. However, this research is limited to the territory because only one family was involved, but the sources were used to broaden the theoretical findings of the study.
Case Study
Description and Consequences
This specific case provides a better understanding of a problem: a woman faced postnatal depression after childbirth due to a lack of emotional and practical support from her husband during and after pregnancy (Lundqvist et al., 2019, p. 2972). The couple desired to have a baby and were unbelievably happy when they found out about the pregnancy.
However, during and after the child’s birth, the couple started to have conflicts based on the constant absence of the husband at home, but the husband also felt guilty. This absence was caused by the husband’s desire to ensure the best environment for a child to grow up without poverty. Nevertheless, this desire ended in the lack of time for a child, so all house chores and childcare were put on the mother, who could not cope with everything.
As a result, the couple had constant arguments, which triggered the mother’s postnatal depression. Moreover, mothers’ and children’s connections during pregnancy and infancy are tight, so any negative developments in the mother’s health influence the child’s. In this case, the mother suffered, and the child’s brain development slowed down.
Probable Solutions
The problem might be solved by medical intervention and psychological therapy, and discussing the issue with the husband might be helpful. This problem could be prevented if the couple discussed all issues due to pregnancy; they would manage to take into account each person’s needs and create some rules. An argumentative discussion would have helped to recognize the mental problems that were caused and provided ways to solve them. However, the woman has postnatal depression, which should be medically treated.
Firstly, the root of the problem should be found—in this case, a lack of practical and emotional support from the husband. Secondly, therapy should be implemented, where all precedents would be analyzed. Lastly, a woman should get the necessary rest and support from her husband to avoid the repercussions of this depression.
In addition, postnatal depression symptoms are similar to depression but negatively influence a child’s well-being, so getting the necessary help as soon as possible is essential. Hence, this problem should be immediately solved by medical interventions and the help of a psychologist to prevent negative consequences on children’s and mothers’ health.
The Impact of the Problem on My Personality
This problem directly affects my educational and parental background. Firstly, I am currently researching this topic, and the knowledge gained during this study helps me to better understand the problem. For instance, knowledge of probable difficult situations during the perinatal period might be helpful for statistics in providing help to people who face difficulties during this stage.
Furthermore, I am a potential parent in the future, so this issue might become my personal experience. According to the statistics, 10 to 15 women among 100 face postnatal depression, which is caused by the presence of stressful situations during and after pregnancy, so I am also at risk (Kinloch & Jaworska, 2020). This problem influences the community by creating obstacles to childbirth.
For example, the more people discover potential problems due to pregnancy, the harder it becomes to decide to have children. In addition, conflict rates among couples are increasing, which creates a hostile environment for having and raising children. Thus, this problem directly impacts my environment, community, education, and future parental background by causing obstacles to my desire to be a parent.
Ways of Coping With a Problem
Perinatal psychiatry, community outreach, and ongoing work on mental health disorders are some strategies that will help me deal with this situation if I encounter it. Firstly, perinatal psychiatry is one of the major strategies to prevent problematic situations and postnatal depression among couples. The main idea of this method is to emphasize the effects of birth on parents so it may make the perinatal period easier to cope with (Brockington et al., 2017).
Secondly, community outreach is an excellent way to provide a higher level of understanding of the issue, among others. As a result, there will not be a need to travel long distances to get help because the community good provides it (Brockington et al., 2017).
Lastly, taking care of personal mental health is one of the best ways to be mentally healthy and disease-resistant. Constant improvement in health conditions might lead to a better understanding of possible problems that should be solved. Therefore, it is essential to implement strategies mentioned above to cope with difficult situations during the perinatal period.
Perinatal Mental Health of Infants
The perinatal infant health creates strong relationships between the mother’s and child’s health conditions, influencing brain development, so adverse conditions of the mother’s health impact the child’s. First, an infant’s health is vulnerable and connected to the mother’s, so any disturbances or negative experiences will negatively affect the infant’s developing process (Goodman, 2019, p. 224).
The deadlier for a child’s mental health is the mother’s prenatal and postnatal depression. This disease affects an infant’s social, cognitive, and emotional development and leads to long-term health problems (Goodman, 2019, p. 223). For instance, a child might experience disturbed or disorganized sleep and have a difficult temperament. However, not every child who has a mother with postnatal depression experiences adverse effects. A child’s mental health also depends on epigenetic factors; in some cases, these factors have a more substantial influence than the mother-child relationship (Goodman, 2019, p. 223).
Nevertheless, the connections between mothers and children’s health are strong enough to cause obstacles to infant brain development and interactions. Thus, infants’ health is connected with their mothers, and any disturbances in the mother’s health negatively influence the child’s growth and cause harmful consequences.
Causes of Perinatal Depression
Lack of emotional and practical support for women during and after pregnancy is the primary factor in postnatal depression. According to the survey, the women who almost did not share personal thoughts or fears with their husbands were two times more likely to have postnatal depression (Azad et al., 2019).
Moreover, the level of relationships between couples played a crucial role in the prevalence of depression. For example, women who suffered domestic violence had higher depression rates (Azad et al., 2019). On the other hand, women who had discussions with their husbands and could share their feelings almost had no depression or its symptoms and found it easier to cope with. In addition, practical support reduces stressful situations that cause postnatal depression (Azad et al., 2019). In this case, women who get help with household chores are less likely to face depression.
Lastly, each woman might experience postnatal depression, but the ability to express their feelings and get practical support might decrease the severity and occurrence of depression. Hence, the presence of practical and emotional support for women during and after pregnancy will reduce the occurrence of postnatal depression.
Conflict Rates After Childbirth
Childbirth might result in constant arguments between parents and may create different health issues among couples. The birth of a child brings many challenges into a couple’s life, and sometimes, it is not easy to adapt to the new circumstances. For instance, it was stated that couples could not recognize their partner’s needs, so the number of conflicts increased (Lundqvist et al., 2019, p. 2973).
Furthermore, women cannot divide their responsibilities as they should be mothers and partners. In this case, many arguments occur due to the inability to cope with both roles. Men’s experience is similar to women’s because they cannot help their wives and ensure the family’s financial well-being (Lundqvist et al., 2019, p. 2974).
In addition, the child needs a lot of attention, and mothers focus on the child, while fathers have difficulties emotionally embracing the infant. Lastly, the difference between the mother’s and father’s responsibilities is the root of significant conflicts because women who get no support from their husbands cannot cope with everything at home, which leads to burnout (Lundqvist et al., 2019, p. 2976). Thus, the conflict rate after childbirth is increasing due to complex situations among couples.
Conclusion
To conclude, the perinatal period plays a vital role in a couple’s life. It is essential to consider each feature of this period and pay great attention to different situations that might be created, such as conflicts and mental health issues. Furthermore, because of the close bonds that form between mother and child during the perinatal period, any negative changes in the mother’s health have a negative impact on the development of the kid. In addition, the husband’s absence of both emotional and practical involvement provokes depression, negatively affecting the child’s health.
Reference List
Azad, R., et al. (2019). ‘Prevalence and risk factors of postpartum depression within one year after birth in urban slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh.’ PloS one, 14(5). Web.
Brockington, I., Butterworth, R., and Glangeaud-Freudenthal, N. (2017). ‘An international position paper on mother-infant (perinatal) mental health, with guidelines for clinical practice.’ Archives of women’s mental health, 20(1). Web.
Goodman, J. H. (2019). ‘Perinatal depression and infant mental health.’ Archives of psychiatric nursing, 33(3), pp. 217-224. Web.
Kinloch, K., and Jaworska, S. (2020). ‘Using a comparative corpus-assisted approach to study health and illness discourses across domains: The case of postnatal depression (PND) in lay, medical and media texts.’ Web.
Lundqvist, P., Weis, J., and Sivberg, B. (2019). ‘Parents’ journey caring for a preterm infant until discharge from hospital‐based neonatal home care—A challenging process to cope with.’ Journal of clinical nursing, 28(15-16), pp. 2966-2978. Web.