Healthcare in Pakistan
Depression often starts at young age and affects women more commonly than men. One or two mothers out of 10 have depression after childbirth. Depression also limits a mother’s capacity to care for her child, and can seriously affect the child’s growth and development. A study showed that exposure to maternal mental distress is associated with undernutrition in 9‐month infants in urban Pakistan.
Evolutionary approaches to postpartum depression
Women may also have doubts about their ability to care for a new infant, difficulty bonding with the infant, or thoughts of harming themselves or their infants. In the DSM-V, diagnosis is made under Major Depressive Disorder, with the added specifier “With peripartum onset” if the episode occurs during pregnancy or the first four weeks postpartum. Postpartum depression is not to be conflated with postpartum psychosis, which is qualitatively different.