A week or so ago someone asked me whether there were any proven links between infertility treatments and postpartum mood disorders. Today I found this article from last August (how did I miss this?), about some research on the subject:
In the the journal Fertility and Sterility, researchers in Australia reported that treatment for infertility appeared to be linked to an increased risk for developing emotional problems related to parenting.
"Conceiving a child after undergoing infertility treatment was four times more likely to result in emotional issues related to parenting than having a child without such treatments …
The Australian study included just over 700 new moms with mild to moderate depression, anxiety, or other emotional problems that led them to seek treatment at a special clinic.
The researchers determined that 6 percent of the mothers seeking emotional treatment conceived through infertility treatments. This is four times greater than the 1.5 percent of infants conceived through infertility treatments in the general population.
Mothers who conceived through IVF and other forms of assisted reproduction were more likely than other moms to be older, have multiple births, and have difficult deliveries that ended in cesarean sections — three other suspected risk factors for postpartum depression.
The researchers suggest that women who achieve successful pregnancies after undergoing infertility treatment may benefit from additional emotional support before and after their babies are born."
As you may remember, Brooke Shields went through IVF and experienced postpartum depression, and I’ve talked to several other women who had the same experience. We should make sure that women going through IVF speak with their doctors prior to birth about how to recognize the symptoms of postpartum mood disorders and the type of treatments that are available.
Infertility is such a roller-coaster ride of emotions and physical hurdles.