Childbirth Connection, a leading national not-for-profit organization that works to improve the quality of maternity care, today released "New Mothers Speak Out, National Survey Results Highlight Women's Postpartum Experiences." The combined survey results from two "Listening to Mothers" surveys provide an in-depth look at women's postpartum experiences during the first eighteen months after giving birth.
The survey utilized validated tools to screen for postpartum depression and traumatic stress associated with childbirth, and found that notable portions of mothers experienced symptoms of depression and of traumatic stress many months after giving birth, according to Reuters.
"Postpartum mothers experience a troubling burden of physical and emotional health challenges after giving birth. Although many of these problems abate over time, far too many women were still experiencing them from 6 to 18 months after birth. With more than 4.3 million births each year in the United States, it is an urgent priority to better understand the reason for these challenges, their implications for women and their families, ways to prevent distress and morbidity, and ways to help women and families before they experience detrimental effects," stated Maureen Corry, MPH, Executive Director of Childbirth Connection.
The study also looked into breastfeeding experiences, co-sleeping, social support from others and maternity leave benefits and employment issues.
"The overall picture is of recent mothers engaged in a juggling act, carrying multiple and sometimes conflicting responsibilities while experiencing high levels of social, physical and emotional health challenges. There are concerns about whether large segments of this population have access to adequate health and social services and social support. We are letting our mothers and babies down at one of the most critical and vulnerable times in their lives. These survey results are a clarion call to action for programs, policies, clinical services, and research to better understand and improve the experiences of new mothers and their families," said Corry.
The "Listening to Mothers Postpartum" survey reached 903 U.S. women, ages 18-45, who gave birth in a hospital to a single infant in 2005, with the infant still living at the time of the survey. The survey was carried out by Childbirth Connection, a national non-profit focused on improving the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy, in partnership with Lamaze International and conducted by Harris Interactive. The "New Mothers Speak Out" report, along with survey questionnaires, details about the survey methodology and related documents, are available at www.childbirthconnection.org/newmothersspeakout/
Click here for more statistics on postpartum depression.
