New Delhi, November 4 (IANS). A research has revealed that women who have been victims of brain trauma have a 25 percent higher risk of developing serious mental health problems after delivery.
The research, led by a team of Canadian researchers, emphasized the importance of identifying individuals who have suffered trauma in the past as early as prenatal care. It also highlighted the long-term, trauma-informed support they need to maintain their mental health.
“We found that women with a history of stroke were significantly more likely to have serious mental health challenges in the years following childbirth,” said lead author Samantha Kruger of McMaster University in Canada.
Kruger said this association was especially strong for people without a pre-existing mental illness. Study suggests concussion may be an important, but overlooked risk factor during pregnancy and postpartum care.
The team tracked more than 750,000 women giving birth in the Canadian province of Ontario between 2007 and 2017 and monitored mental health for 14 years after delivery.
The results, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, showed that 11 percent of women who had experienced a previous concussion suffered serious mental illness, compared with 7 percent of women without any previous concussion.
Importantly, among women without a pre-existing mental health diagnosis, the risk of developing a serious mental illness due to a prior brain trauma increased by 33 percent. This risk increases by 33 percent in women without a history of stroke.
Studies have also shown lack of sleep in women after delivery as a risk factor.
“Sleep is vital to recovery after a head injury, but sleep deprivation is a reality for many new parents,” said Dr. Hilary Brown, associate professor in the department of health and society at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
–IANS
MKS/AKJ