From the University of Huddersfield press release via AlphaGalileo:
Research and a conference at the University of Huddersfield focus on men who suffer the baby blues – and it can have an impact on children in later life
Men too can suffer from postnatal depression and it can have a long term impact on their children. That is central to the research of a lecturer at the University of Huddersfield and a key theme at a recent conference.
It was a Perinatal Mental Health Day, meaning that it dealt with the period from early pregnancy through to childbirth and the first year after delivery. It was co-organised by Fiona Trotter, who is the University’s senior lecturer and field leader for mental health.
Mark Williams, from Wales, was an invited speaker. He is the founder of an organisation named Fathers Reaching Out which provides support for men whose wives or partners are suffering from postnatal depression (see http://www.fathersreachingout.com/). And the mental health problems that can afflict men before, during and after their partners give birth is the subject of doctoral research being conducted by Fiona Trotter.
“Maternal mental health has long been an important subject, but now there is emerging interest in men’s mental health during the perinatal period,” she says.
Services such as clinics and visits from midwives are very much focussed on mothers and children and often fail to take account of men’s working patterns. As a result, men might feel excluded from the process and if their wife or partner suffers from antenatal or postnatal depression, then there is a considerable risk of a man becoming depressed too.
Studies have shown that mental health problems experienced by men and women during the perinatal period can have a significant long term impact on children.
”Boys in particular seen to be at risk of conduct-related disorders and it can be traced back to this period,” says Fiona Trotter.
Men are generally reluctant to discuss issues relating to mental health, she adds .
“But if one of the key risk factors for a man to develop either ante or postnatal depression is having a wife who suffers from that condition, then I believe staff should have heightened awareness to the needs of men during this period.”
The problem could be tackled with clinics held at a time when it easier for men to attend, and there should be much more general awareness of the problem, including special literature aimed at men, suggests Fiona Trotter.
She adds that the actual process of childbirth can be harrowing for fathers too.
“I don’t think we always appreciate the trauma that men can go through in actually seeing their child delivered, and perhaps that is something that they should be better prepared for.”