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It’s important to make sure parents and babies are happy and healthy. New parents are sometimes diagnosed with depression or anxiety. An infant’s mental health can impact their overall development.
Jade Elliott sits down with Heather Kunz, social worker, Salt Lake County Health Department, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast to talk about parental and infant mental health.
Maternal Mental Health
Depression
Approximately 15% of women experience significant depression following childbirth. 10% of women experience depression during pregnancy.
A woman might experience feelings of:
- Anger
- Sadness
- Irritability
- Guilt
- Lack of interest in the baby
- Changes in eating and sleeping habits
- Trouble concentrating
- Thoughts of hopelessness
To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on how new and expecting moms can manage their mental health by using the acronym SNOWBALL, click here.
To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on postpartum depression and dads, click here.
Anxiety
Approximately 6% of pregnant women and 10% of postpartum women develop anxiety.
This could include:
- Constant worry.
- Feeling that something bad is going to happen.
- Racing thoughts
- Disturbance of sleep and appetite
- Inability to sit still
- Physical symptoms like, dizziness, hot flashes, and nausea
To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on postpartum anxiety and OCD, click here.
Infant Mental Health
Infant mental health is reflected in appropriate cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.
Good mental health for children under 5 includes:
- Secure attachments
- Positive relationships
- Confidence
- Curiosity
- Effective communication
- Increasing self-regulation
- Social competence
- Self-awareness
- Expressions of love and happiness
To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on the program, Parents as Teachers, which provides parents with child development knowledge and parenting support, click here.
The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.