While it may be double the joy, it might also be double the sorrow for some mums. Recent research indicates that mothers who deliver two or more babies are more likely to have developed moderate to severe depression within nine months of giving birth than mothers who have a single baby, say U.S. researchers who analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of children born in 2001.
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The researchers said their study, which was published in the April 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics, shows that pediatric professionals have to pay more attention to postpartum depression among new mothers.
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“The low numbers of women receiving mental health counselling despite symptoms reinforces the need for facilitating better referral of patients with depressive symptoms,” Dr. Cynthia Minkovitz, an associate professor with the Bloomberg School’s Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health and senior author of the study, said in the news release.