Many women develop depression after giving birth. This is called postpartum depression. A new study found that a large number of women had high levels of depressive symptoms at some point in the three years after giving birth.
Researchers asked more than 4,500 women about their symptoms of depression four months and one, two, and three years after birth. These symptoms included anxiety, sadness, difficulty sleeping, and self-blame.
The women fell into four groups. Most had few to no symptoms over the three years. A second group had few to no symptoms four months after giving birth, but these grew worse over time. This was seen in 8% of participants….