Dad''s-to-be also suffer the ''baby blues''

Washington DC

A new study has revealed that not just pregnant women, men who are about to become fathers also goes through lot of stress and depression.

The study conducted by McGill University Health Centre observed the prevalence of antenatal depression symptoms and that significant number of first-time expectant fathers experience depression during their partner's pregnancy.

The research examined 622 men over a period of one-and-half years and asked expectant dads to complete online questionnaires, which helped in measuring various factors such as mood, physical activity, sleep quality, social support, marital adjustment, financial stress, and demographics, during their partner's third semester.

The research found that 13.3 per cent of expectant fathers experienced elevated levels of depressive symptoms during their partner's pregnancy.

Most of the factors associated with depression in men were identified to be modifiable, meaning that tools are available to help cope with these difficulties.

Dr. Deborah Da Costa, senior author of the study, said that the mental health of men is not considered during the transition to parenthood and antenatal depression is the strongest predictor for postnatal depression. So teaching fathers and screening for this early on, can be beneficial in terms of decreasing the risk or the continuation of depression postpartum.

The study is published in American Journal of Men's Health. —ANI