Becoming a mother is an important chapter in every woman's life. But do you know that women's mental health can also be affected after becoming a mother? In particular, this situation can be even more complicated for women who have suffered brain injury. Research has revealed that women who have suffered a brain injury have a 25 percent higher risk of having serious mental health problems after delivery.
The research, led by a team of Canadian researchers, emphasized the importance of identifying persons suffering from injury in the past during prenatal care itself. Along with this, their long-term, trauma-informed support was highlighted so that their mental health remains good.
The lead author of the research, Samantha Kruger of McMaster University, Canada, said that we found that women with a history of brain injury are much more likely to have serious mental health challenges in the years after delivery. Kruger said the link was particularly strong for those with no pre-existing mental illness. The study said concussion during pregnancy and postpartum care could be an important but overlooked risk factor. The team tracked more than 750,000 women who delivered in the Canadian province of Ontario between 2007 and 2017 and monitored their mental health for up to 14 years after delivery.
The results, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, showed that 11 percent of women who had previously suffered a brain injury developed a serious mental illness, while seven percent of women without a prior concussion developed a mental illness. Importantly, among women without a pre-existing mental health condition, a prior brain injury increased the risk of developing a serious mental illness by 33 percent. Dr. Hilary Brown, an associate professor in the department of health and society at the University of Toronto Scarborough, said sleep is vital to recovery after a head injury, but sleep deprivation is a reality for many new parents.
(PC: Freepik)
