The relationship between pain during labor and postpartum depression is poorly documented, if at all. And yet… What if painless childbirth (proportionally, it's not Disneyland either), allowed women to become mothers comfortably? This is the opinion of Dr. Katherine Wisner, perinatal psychiatrist at Northwestern University (United States), in the journal Anesthesia &Analgesia.
Basically? A Chinese study that followed two groups of women who gave birth vaginally. In the first, the mothers had opted for (the Graaaal!) the epidural, in the second they had chosen to give birth to Junior, without painkillers. Results ? 14% of women who gave birth under an epidural suffered from postpartum depression 6 weeks after delivery. The figure climbs to 35% among mothers in the second group.
Through other research, it was already known that biological and emotional factors contribute to postpartum depression, but this study sheds new light on the phenomenon which affects 14.5% of women.
For Katherine Wisner, "Pain control allows mothers to get off to a good start with their baby rather than starting this life exhausted from a painful birth." Obviously, it's neither all white nor all black and the psychiatrist reminds us that painless childbirth is a bit like Prince Charming, it doesn't exist. But the epidural can at least “avoid too severe suffering”.
We tend to agree, because ultimately the cause and effect link is easily conceivable. How can you be relaxed from the hat when you come home after giving birth and you are in constant pain? How to get your bearings? How to make the most of it? Especially since these disabling pains are added to fatigue, anxiety, in short, to all the changes involved in the arrival of a first Junior or a third for that matter.
Further research is needed to confirm this advice, particularly in women at increased risk of depression and in women of non-Chinese origin.
