VOA标准英语2013--Postpartum Depression Affects Babies, too

 

Postpartum Depression Affects Babies, too

In Ghana, mothers who have sick babies are much more likely to suffer from postpartum depression. A new study says that could put their children at risk. Researchers say while the study of postpartum depression was done in Ghana, the findings could apply to many low-income countries.

Lead author Dr. Katherine Gold said while it’s a condition well understood in the developed world, that’s not the case in Ghana or most of Africa.

“Postpartum depression would be a clinical depression in the first year after giving birth. This is not the baby blues¹ where people might feel a little down or have some hormonal² changes. These are people who are having significant difficulty functioning; taking care of themselves; taking care of their babies,” she said.

It can have numerous causes.

“You can have a genetic³ predisposition. If your mother had it or your sister had it, you might be at risk. If you’ve been depressed⁴ before or have other mental health problems -- if you don’t have a lot of social support – that could be a risk factor. And one of the surprising things was that the risk factors in high-income countries seemed to be pretty similar to the risk factors in low-income countries,” she said.

Gold is assistant professor of family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School. She said postpartum depression in a low-income country can have many symptoms.

“Typically, it would be someone who appears sad or tearful, who’s withdrawn⁵ from social or family activities, who may not be taking proper care of themselves – proper hygiene⁶, may not be taking care of the baby -- maybe feeling or talking about feeling worthless or hopeless about the future. And in the very severe cases maybe having suicidal thoughts.” She said.

Dr. Gold said that because there is so little known about postpartum depression, many women face a great deal of stigma⁷. While doctors may view it as a medical condition, women may view it as some kind of punishment or curse placed upon them.

When a mother suffers from postpartum depression it can negatively affect her child, especially if that child is already ill. There’s much evidence of that in high-income countries.

“We know that depression in pregnancy⁸ and postpartum can affect the pregnancy outcome. It can affect how the baby attaches with mom. It can affect things like the baby’s well-being⁹. But in low-income countries, if mom is depressed it also affects the infant’s health. And it appears to affect diarrheal diseases, respiratory illnesses, their growth. It has significant health effects. So it really can be a life and death situation for babies in these low-income countries,” she said.

Adding to the problem is the lack of psychiatrists¹⁰ in Ghana. Gold says there are fewer than 10 in a country of 25 million people.

She said there are medications that can help and they’re available in Africa. The problem is they’re expensive. Gold added that counseling and community peer groups could help by informing women about the condition – its causes, symptoms and treatments. For a start, it would let them know that the situation is not hopeless.

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 hormonal   

adj.激素的

参考例句：

• Some viral diseases are more severe during pregnancy, probably tecause of hormonal changes. 有些病毒病在妊娠期间比较严重，可能是由于激素变化引起的。
• She underwent surgical intervention and a subsequent short period of hormonal therapy. 他接受外科手术及随后短暂荷尔蒙治疗。

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

4 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

5 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

6 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

7 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

8 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

9 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

10 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分