The Other Half of Postpartum Depression

Ryoko Pentecost
PhD Student, College of Nursing
University of Utah

What is PPD?

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a form of depression that comes after childbirth. It occurs in 10-15% of women aged 18 to 44 and is therefore the most common complication after having a child. It occurs anytime between a month and a year after birth, and the impact of PPD extends to infants, women, and families. Maternal PPD has been recognized in some form for several years. For example, the term baby blues has long been used to describe mood swings that occur after pregnancy. It is great that society is starting to acknowledge PPD to offer support for suffering mothers. However, as far as PPD is concerned there is an elephant in the room, as it takes two to make a baby.

New types of PPD
           Paternal PPD is a very real complication that gets little attention. From an analytical standpoint, it’s easy to imagine how a father can suffer from depression after having a baby. In the best case, a new dad must deal with lack of sleep, and caring for a new baby who will cry at all hours of the day. Now, imagine those common and somewhat expected stresses combined with a complication that renders a mother unable to assist in caring for the baby, such as maternal PPD. The result could very well be a depressed dad. In fact, based on this American Academy of Pediatrics report, between 2 and 25% of fathers were depressed, and that number jumped by 50% when the mother experienced PPD.

Currently, when fathers and PPD are paired together, the focus isn’t specifically paternal PPD. Instead, the conversation is framed based on how fathers experienced maternal PPD. One example can be found here. Granted from the point of maternal PPD it could be encouraging to view how fathers can step in and provide support, but from the point of paternal PPD videos like that one could make a new father feel as if something is wrong with him, because no other father feels the same way.

I feel the root of the problem stems from outdated thinking that the mother is the primary caregiver of children. Historically, from an external perspective the mother was expected to be the one on duty to care for the kids. However, in more recent years dads are encouraged and even expected to take a more active role, as the benefits of an involved dad are becoming well understood.

Paternal PPD and Research

Now it’s time for research and thinking on PPD to shift to catch up with this new (and very positive) trend of active fathering. After all, the healthiest child is one where all parents are available and engaged.

In my opinion, this is one area where society is ahead of some areas of research. I say that because I see numerous examples of families where the father takes an active role (such as my own), but I don’t see many studies concerning paternal PPD. In other words, there are several areas that are understood for PPD mothers that are not as understood for PPD fathers. For example, how might a father exhibit signs of PPD? How should a father be screened for PPD? What is the risk to the infant if a father has PPD? Can early identification and treatment of maternal PPD prevent paternal PPD, and vice versa? Is maternal PPD more or less prevalent in societies where fathers take an active role?

With that said, there are a few resources out there for fathers who feel they need support with their PPD. For example, postpartum.net provides information about a monthly chat around PPD. PostpartumDads.org provides a Facebook support group for fathers dealing with PPD. Finally, The Postpartum Husband by Karen Kleiman (cover shown below) offers tips for fathers concerning PPD.