May 6, 2024 – Megan Tavares was on the food market when her doctor called and told her to return to the hospital immediately. Blood tests had shown that Tavares, who was 39 weeks pregnant, had a rare condition related to preeclampsia. Her baby needed to be delivered immediately.
Nine hours later, Tavares, a social employee from Somerset, Massachusetts, gave birth to a healthy baby boy. But the ordeal was traumatic for the young mother, and within the weeks following the birth, she suffered from depression, obsessive behavior and other symptoms that were anything but normal for her.
“I felt like a ticking time bomb,” she said.
Tavares' struggles lasted 6 months. Her family doctor finally diagnosed postpartum posttraumatic stress disorderin addition to postpartum depression And postpartum anxiety.
After birth PTSD According to the National Institutes of Health, it affects roughly 8 million women worldwide every year Pay.
Signs occur inside a month of a birth that's traumatic indirectly for the brand new mother or baby. For example, this may occasionally be because of an unplanned cesarean section, transfer of the child to the neonatal intensive care unit, forceps or vacuum extraction, other medical complications, or lack of support from healthcare professionals during labor. Although it's important that recent moms with symptoms of postpartum PTSD receive treatment, the condition often goes undiagnosed.
A new study Massachusetts General Hospital and Bar-Ilan University try to treatment this example. The research team used a low-cost type of artificial intelligence that, in theory, any gynecologist could use to enhance diagnostics.
For the study, nearly 1,300 women were asked to write down 30 words about their birth experience, specializing in essentially the most traumatic moments, explained the lead study writer Sharon Dekel, PhDAssistant Professor of Psychology within the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of Massachusetts General Hospital Postpartum Traumatic Stress Disorder Research Program.
“An AI model designed to understand human language then analyzed the women's word and speech patterns and identified mental illnesses based on the nuances of their language and the context of their sentences. We fed in data and the model told us whether the data was representative of PTSD or not,” she said.
The OpenAI model achieved a specificity/accuracy rate of 75% to 85% in diagnosing women on this population with postpartum PTSD. The researchers imagine this technology may very well be easily integrated into routine gynecological care within the hope that ladies in danger may very well be helped through rapid intervention.
A fast diagnosis is crucial, says Dekel. “If a woman develops a mental illness after a traumatic birth, it can potentially affect the health of both mother and child,” she says.
More about postpartum PTSD
In general, PTSD can occur after a daunting event. As you process the shock of such an event, chances are you'll experience flashbacks and nightmares, turn out to be very anxious, and sometimes cannot stop interested by what happened.
And current research from Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia shows that postpartum PTSD can either occur for the primary time because of frightening circumstances at birth or be attributable to previous trauma that's reactivated during a stressful birth. For example, the researchers found that ladies who had experienced sexual assault or sexual abuse in childhood were more prone to develop postpartum PTSD. In addition, “racial discrimination during caregiving can also increase a woman's risk,” Dekel said. “Latinas and black women are three times more likely to have a traumatic reaction to childbirth.”
In addition to serious medical complications or poor treatment by hospital staff, a lady's lack of control over her birth experience can be a reason for the disease.
“A woman can feel like a failure because she can't have a vaginal delivery,” Dekel said. “In some cases, postpartum PTSD can also be a barrier to future pregnancies. It leads to avoidance behavior where the woman says, 'I'm never doing that again.'”
Symptoms of postpartum PTSD
An essential feature is that you're feeling unusual tension. “You should watch for a general stress level that is higher than expected in the postpartum period and re-experience or avoid the event that causes negative changes in your mood or thinking,” said Sarah Horvath, MD, MSHP, a Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA.
You also can:
- Sleep disorders
- Do you're feeling “on alert” on a regular basis?
- Have panic attacks
- Feeling increasingly depressed
Can postpartum PTSD be prevented?
In some cases, yes.
“Being prepared for possible PTSD can be really helpful,” Horvath said. “Take time to think about the ideal birth experience, but also think about possible experiences that might be less than ideal.” This can aid you embrace uncertainty so you'll be able to higher cope when the unexpected happens.
Your gynecologist also can aid you.
“Patients should talk with their obstetricians in advance to set realistic expectations and address any fears or need for additional support,” Horvath said. “If a patient has a trusted primary care physician, psychiatrist or psychologist, consider thinking with them in advance about support and resilience.”
How to treat postpartum PTSD
Medication and/or therapy are key. In Tavares' case, she was prescribed Zoloft on the time of her diagnosis and commenced counseling a number of months later.
“I'm doing well,” she said. “Working with a counselor, especially one who specializes in perinatal mental health, is a wonderful healing experience. It's a safe place to share what you've been through and to get validation.”
Overall, it's best to not hesitate to hunt the aid you need and deserve, Dekel stressed.
“There's no need to be ashamed. If you experience symptoms in the first few days after birth, we can treat you and early treatment can make a big difference. Open up and share how you're feeling – it's an important way to look after yourself and your baby.”