Paternal postpartum depression. Why is it also important?

Abstract

Health supervision is a privileged opportunity to walk along with the new families during their transition to parenthood. This period is challenging for both mother and father, and there is the potential danger that demand surpasses the existing resources of the family. This imbalance may lead to mothers and fathers to develop depressive symptomatology. Postpartum depression may affect one to two out of ten men, and maternal depression is a major risk factor for developing it. The postpartum depression in the father impact all the family members, being the child development, the bonding, and the child´s mental health which can be disturb at a short, medium and long term. Therefore, it seems to be relevant to think about screening for post partum depression not only in mothers but also fathers, and give a first step to broaden the gaze from the dyad to the triad. The health supervision is a unique opportunity to be able to carry out this screening; however, the validation of a postpartum screening test for Chilean fathers is a pending task.