Article by Roberto Turner

One of the most important things for a woman to ensure while she is pregnant is that she remains healthy all through the the nine-month period. This is because something that affects the mother will impact the baby in her womb. With that into consideration, women ought to be conscious that any preexisting condition they might have and/or the medicines that they are taking can have a profound impact on their pregnancy and their baby. In some instances, this may increase the risk of babies being born with birth weight problems (either overweight or underweight), developmental problems, preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, pre-eclampsia, congenital heart block, or deformities. It might even be the cause of death for each mother and kid.

Amongst the preexisting medical conditions that pose a substantial health risk for ladies throughout pregnancy are anemia, asthma, arthritis, sexually transmitted illnesses, heart conditions, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), thyroid disorders, kidney diseases, liver diseases, infections, diabetes, hypertension, consuming disorders, epilepsy, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), substance abuse, depression, along with other mental illnesses. While these conditions can pose complications throughout pregnancy, it is feasible to manage them with medical help.

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Article by Morag Macphail

I am currently working as a Health Visitor, but I am also a nursing research student at the University of the West of Scotland conducting an online study to investigate infant to parent attachment relationships. As doctors and midwives we are now aware that emotions play a large part in pregnancy, adjustment to parenthood, and in the development of a healthy parent- child relationship.As part of a study we are conducting into how much emotions change during pregnancy and early parenthood, and the affect this has on the relationship with the child, we would be very grateful for your help in completing the following questionnaires, in order to try and see how much emotions change over a period of time.

Most of the questionnaires require you to put a tick in a box.

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I am 22, this is my second pregnancy, my first son died when I was 35 weeks pregnant. Now I have another healthy and wonderful baby growing inside me, but I find myself always worrying and concerned something is wrong. I think I am depressed. I cry and can’t stop sometimes, and I am wondering what this is doing to my 18 week old baby. Can my crying uncontrollably hurt my baby?

Researchers claim that women are four times more vulnerable to depression than men. I am not implying in any way that women are weaker than men. It’s that their biology is so much different from men’s. They can be so sensitive and more susceptible to depression, anxiety attacks and stress. Let’s point out some of the differences between men and women and how both respond to depression and the symptoms of depression.

Differences Between Men and Women:

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Happy times and sad times are part of all our lives. When we go over the edge into a really heavy duty depression, it’s very hard to pull out.  Then we have to look at what was causing us to be so depressed and so miserable.

Are you happy with your job?  Lots of people would answer no but stay for the benefits. Sometimes a job is too much of a downer and maybe your boss is a toxic person for you to deal with. Change is hard. You hate to leave a job because you are used to it.  But if you are being made miserable there, you have to make an effort to get another job.

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If you are depressed you don’t feel good. You may tend to self medicate using drugs or alcohol or both. Alcohol can be a strong anti depressant at first but then when the use continues, alcohol becomes a depressant. Alcohol is like many other drugs that act on the brain. If you drink it regularly, you find that it has less effect on you. You need to drink more and more to get the effect you want. This is called ‘tolerance’ and is a powerful part of the problem you can develop using alcohol to deal with depression.  It is so easy to get alcohol- you don’t need to talk to a doctor or get a prescription- that it is the drug of choice to deal with depression more often then not. The problem is, alcohol can really make the depression worse. It definitely interferes with your ability to deal with the problems which caused your depression in the first place. Many people who have trouble sleeping start using alcohol as a sleeping pill and it causes no end of problems. In the end, alcohol abuse will really interfere with sleep.

In low doses, alcohol makes you feel relaxed and more able to talk to and be around people if you are shy or lack confidence. Taking small amounts of alcohol, especially red wine seem to be good for our hearts. But there is a big difference between drinking a glass of wine and downing a six pack to back off the pressure.

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I had an ectopic pregnancy about a year ago and am really struggling to get over our loss. I have good days and bad days but overall I feel like I’m a little depressed. We’ve been trying to conceive for roughly 9 months with no success and that’s really adding to the depression. Could the fact that I am depressed affect our chances? If so, are there any medications I could take that would help with the depression without harming a pregnancy?

Dr. Prescibed this for me about a month ago, but I wansn’t taking it because I just didn’t feel comfortable. Depression got to point where I was crying nonstop at work in front of people. I’m 20wks and have only been taking it for a week now, just started 300mg. Has any had EXPERIENCE or actually seen effects of this drug during pregnancy or on baby once born?

I am 19 weeks pregnant and severly depressed. My fiance left me shortly after we found out I was pregnant… even though he had earlier expressed that he wanted children. Someone mentioned anti-depressants but arent they for chemical imbalance? Being single again… pregnant.. and having to move back home seems like it could cause depression on its own. People keep telling me that my depression will have negative effects on this baby… I have disconnected from all my friends, barely leave the house, cry constantly, mood swings, no motivation, and constantly feel there is something wrong with the baby. (I still havent felt any movement) Is this normal depression for my situation + pregnancy hormones, or should I look into anti-depressents?

Illness and Depression

Depression often tags along with another serious illness such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, Parkinson’s Disease and more.  So often doctors will treat the illness but not treat the depression which follows along. This is sad because if you are so dejected and pessimistic about being sick, chances are your recovery won’t be the best.

Cancer Can Scare You to Death

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