According to a study, pregnant pregnant women are more likely to be depressed than previous generations

. decade, there has been a paradigm shift in recognizing that symptoms usually appear before the baby is born.

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Expectant mothers are more likely than women of their mother's generation to become depressed during pregnancy, suggests a study.

The tensions of the modern world could be at the origin of this increase, according to Rebecca Pearson, lead author of the study. , a lecturer in psychiatric epidemiology at the University of Bristol in the UK.

"Our data suggest that the symptoms responsible for the increase in total scores were those related to overflowing feeling and stress and anxiety." Pearson said. "This supports theories that this is potentially a consequence of the rapidly changing modern world."

Although postpartum depression is a well-known problem, there has been a paradigm shift in the past decade. was born, said Dr. Priya Gopalan, chief of psychiatry at the Magee-Womens Hospital of the Medical Center of the University of Pittsburgh

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called postpartum depression actually begins in the third trimester, "said Gopalan, who is not affiliated with the new research." The paradigm shift has done away with all the myths that perpetuate that pregnancy is a happy time for all moms. "

As reported in JAMA Network Open, the Pearson team compared 2,390 women who had babies in the early 1990s to 180 women of the next generation who were either girls of the original group or partners of the sons of the original group.The average age in both groups of women was about 22 or 23.

Among the generation older, 408 or 17% ava high scores on depression screening tests, compared to 45 or 25% of the current generation.

Girls of women who became depressed during pregnancy had a particularly high risk of developing prenatal depression themselves. In fact, they were three times more likely to develop prenatal depression than women whose mothers did not become depressed during pregnancy.

The factors that Pearson suspects lead to higher rates of depression among younger generations: the pressures on young women to juggle with families and careers, social media and the Internet, which can increase social comparisons and the overabundance of information, financial pressures, including house prices and the need for joint income. and community support and increased pressure on relationships with intimate partners.

Do conclusions about British women apply to American women? "Absolutely," said Gopalan. "We have certainly seen increased rates of depression over time."

Gopalan and other experts now recommend that women who develop depression during pregnancy receive treatment, including medications if necessary, to protect the health of both women and their babies