Mothers who were caring for a new baby during lockdown were twice as likely to be struck by postnatal depression, according to a study.
University College London experts surveyed 162 London-based women with infants younger than six months old between May and June last year.
Almost half (47 per cent) said they were suffering from guilt, anxiety and exhaustion among other symptoms, which fitted the definition of the illness.
For comparison, estimates from multiple studies in Europe suggest rates were at one in five (23 per cent) before the pandemic.
Experts blamed the rise on the burden of ‘constant mothering’ without childcare or support from other family members.
The team also pointed to feelings among some mothers that they had missed out on forming friendships with other mothers and their babies.
Charities helping struggling mothers said they ‘were not surprised’ by the study’s results, and that they had seen more mothers requesting support since the pandemic began.
University College London scientists found 47 per cent of mothers they surveyed were suffering from postnatal depression between May and June (stock image)
Scientists used Facebook adverts to recruit mothers to the study, offering them a £5 voucher for taking part.
The survey asked them to list 25 people who were important to them — such as family and close friends — and then which of these they had seen in person, spoken to or messaged.
They also answered questions on how they were feeling to assess whether they were suffering from PND.
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Mothers who took part were between 19 and 47 years old. Half of them were first time mothers, while 40 per cent were having their second child.
Half of them also said they had no complications during birth, while one in ten said there were ‘major complications’ — which may have led to a C-section, a condition linked to higher levels of PND.
As many as 115 babies in the study were born before the first lockdown began, and 47 were born during the restrictions.
Only two of the women who took part said they had no partners.
The results suggested mothers caring for babies during lockdown were more likely to suffer from isolation, exhaustion, worry, inadequacy, guilt and increased stress.
Those who had more contact with people faced fewer depressive symptoms than the mothers who were more isolated.
But when they saw close family members more often, mothers were also more likely to be suffering from PND than those that saw fewer relatives according to the survey.
They highlighted concerns including fears they were not being seen as a good mother, and the developmental impact on their baby of mixing with few infants.
The scientists added, however, that not everything mothers experienced due to lockdown was negative.
Some said the shutdown ‘protected’ family time, boosting bonding between parents and their children.
Others said their partners were around more often, and could help out more than previously had life been like pre-March 2020.
The researchers, led by UCL anthropologist Dr Sarah Myers, said in the paper: ‘Mothers in London were not okay during England’s first lockdown, with a substantial number of women meeting the diagnostic criteria for PND.
‘While Western childrearing norms focus on intensive parenting, our results highlight that it still “takes a village” to raise children in high-income populations.
‘Several studies from Europe and the US have found that maternal domestic work and childcare increased during the Covid pandemic, suggesting that the burden of lockdown may have disproportionately impacted mothers.
‘While our qualitative results suggest high partner involvement may have been associated with more positive experiences of lockdown… overall our results indicate that adequate support within the household was either not available or not enough for many mothers in our sample.’
Dr Myes added: ‘Our survey shows that lockdowns leave new mothers more vulnerable to PND, and that digital solutions might help but they are not the answer.
‘Policy makers must take this into account as we continue to deal with Covid, for the sake of mums, babies and whole families.’
Dr Emily Emmott, who was also involved in the study, said: ‘New mothers with more than one child were hardest hit, left to deal with newborns on top of multiple demands like homeschooling.
‘First-time mothers often felt cheated out of precious time spent together with their babies and family or friends, making coming to terms with the change of identity and isolation that new mothers often feel even harder.
‘But, where partners were at home more because of lockdown, and able to share the relentless tasks and household chores or take care of existing children, new mums felt the benefits.
‘This should also be food for thought when we look at support for parents with new babies, not just in a pandemic.’
A spokesman for the London-based Association for Post Natal Illness, which was not involved in the study, said they were ‘not surprised’ by the results.
‘It has obviously been an especially tough time to go through a pregnancy and have a new baby, with all the extra worry around Covid and the problems that brings itself,’ they said.
‘And then add to that the isolation from friends, family, lack of support or face to face groups or appointments, it really would add pressure and cause high anxiety.’
They added: ‘The study does reflect what we have seen too and isolation for a new parent can cause huge problems at a time when they really do need to be supported.
‘Last week the Perinatal Mental Health Partnership ran Maternal Mental Health Awareness week and there was lots of great information and resources online for that which hopefully reached many mothers who will have needed the support and reassurance.’
Miriam Donaghy, the founder of perinatal mental health charity MumsAid, told MailOnline their experience ‘very much reflects’ the study’s findings.
‘The number of new mothers contacting us for help with their mental health more than doubled during the first lockdown,’ she said.
‘In addition to the factors identified, we also saw a rise in the numbers of women who felt traumatised by their birth experience when they had often been unable to have their partners present.’
She added: ‘A lack of support postnatally from their own mothers is known to be a risk for new mothers’ mental well being and as this was the experience for almost all new mums during the lockdown it is no surprise that many more women struggled with their mental health.
‘What we found particularly worrying that the percentage of women who self referred to MumsAid increased dramatically, while referrals from health professionals initially decreased.’
The study was published in Frontiers in Psychology.
Source: Daily Mail
