Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

At least one in 5 new mothers experience postpartum depression, but, wait, new fathers may experience it too.  A study from University of Cambridge sampling more than 3000 British families just published in JAMA Psychiatry shows that one in 20 fathers may suffer from it too.  Most interesting was the finding that 18 year old girls whose father did have confirmed postpartum depression were themselves at a greater risk for depression.  This was not the case for male offspring. Studies continue to ferret out the causes for this observation.  Meanwhile, though, it is important that new fathers as well as new mothers be monitored for the signs of depression.  If found, all should be aggressively treated in an effort to prevent untoward effects of their emotional challenges on their mates and offspring.  Girls with a family history of maternal or paternal postpartum depression should themselves be watched and treated.  Leticia Gutierrez-Galve, Alan Stein, Lucy Hanington, Jon Heron, Glyn Lewis, Christine O’Farrelly,