Mothers of Multiple Births Have An Increased Risk of Baby Blues

April 16, 2009 by tiffanyb
Filed under: News

A survey shows that mothers of twins and triplets have a greater risk of getting postpartum depression.

A new study has shown that mothers who give birth to multiple babies, have twice the risk of getting the baby blues or postpartum depression. It was shown that mothers of twins or triplets were more exhausted and took care of themselves less, which led them to develop the baby blues more easily. Even though they have more than one baby, they seem to get no more help than mothers with one baby at a time.

The Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba) surveyed approximately 1400 multiple birth mothers and found out that 17% of those moms suffered from some sort of post natal depression. This is almost double the rate of what single birth mothers have reported.

Maggie Couston, a psychologist and mother of triplets, said: “The months after my triplets’ birth should have been a joyful experience but instead I felt exhausted and isolated.” She goes on to say, “My babies were the most precious thing in the world to me but I thought I wasn’t good enough for them and frequently thought of ending things or walking away.”

According to the researchers, simple things like parent education classes and providing support to the mother in the first few weeks after birth can dramatically help a new mother not suffer from severe postpartum depression.