A Swedish study on Tuesday showed that first-time mothers over the age of 35 are more than twice as likely as younger mothers to suffer postpartum psychosis that could involve a danger to the newborn child.
According to the AFP, the study, conducted by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said the risk of developing psychosis during the first 90 days after childbirth increased with age.
The research was based on data gathered from all of the nearly 750,000 first-time mothers who gave birth in Sweden between 1983 and 2000. It showed that women over 35 giving birth for the first time were 2.4 times more likely to develop postpartum psychosis than those younger than 19.
The study also found that while some 80 percent of new mothers experience some kind of mental disturbance or light depression, only about one in 1,000 women suffer from actual psychosis in the first months of motherhood.
Postpartum psychosis is a serious mental disorder that can cause delusions, hallucinations, severe eating or sleeping disturbances, suicidal tendencies and can even be dangerous for newborn babies.
Doctors recommend women suffering from postpartum psychosis seek immediate medical attention, including the administration of anti-psychotic drugs and hospitalization.
Prior psychotic histories often accompany women who experience post partum psychosis, but nearly 50 percent of the cases appeared in women without prior psychotic hospitalization, according to the Karolinska research.
Meanwhile, the study suggested other factors like smoking and not living with the baby’s father had no impact on whether a woman developed postpartum psychosis.
The study, published in the Public Library of Science medical journal, said women suffering from diabetes and giving birth to babies with high birth weights reduced the risk of developing the disorder.
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