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Interesting article about postpartum depression. Frankly I've never heard of a woman who didn't have at least some form of postpartum depression. Mine was delayed until after weaning my son at 2 years old but it definitely was hormonal in nature. He was the shortest kid in 1st grade but as an adult he grew to be over 6 feet.
I had postpartum depression after I had my first child. She's 10 now and she's 5'2". She's been in the 90th percentile for height since she was a month old.
I didn't have postpartum depression after I had my second child. She's been at less than the 3rd percentile for height since she was 9 months old.
I don't think that study is much help. Many of us who had postpartum depression already feel some guilt at having had it...after all, having a baby is supposed to be a joyful occasion. Parents of unusually short children also feel some guilt and look for reasons...this seems like it would just make people who fit into both of those groups feel worse.
Almost ALL the kids i see nowadays are bigger than their parents....seems silly to even think that the way his/her mamma feels is going to affect their height.
I had postpartum depression after I had my first child. She's 10 now and she's 5'2". She's been in the 90th percentile for height since she was a month old.
I too had PPD and I also have a tall daughter -- 4'4" and not even 8 yet. (Neither my husband nor I are super tall, but I do have some very tall genes in my family.)
Treatments may include a combination of medication and or therapy.
Commenting on the study to NBCNews.com, Dr. Andrew Leuchter, professor of psychiatry at UCLA, said, "It's more evidence that depression in the mom can have negative health effects on the kids. So it really underlines the urgency of treating depression in these mothers so the kids don't suffer."
So, this article/study, really underlies the need for more people to be on drugs that make big pharmacy, big money!
What a bunch of hogwash! My gawd, will these people stop at nothing, to make more money!? If one had the time and/or inclination, they would find out who was behind this study. Me? I don't have to go searching. The underlined text above is a clear answer to that. Good grief. What a load of BS. Sure, convince these new moms that they need drugs. Better yet, hook them up with unnecessary therapy AND drugs, so there's less money available to the household. That will solve their depression, won't it. Stupid.
I suffered PPD with my youngest. At birth he was smaller than any of my previous children. He's always been the largest child in his grade....AND by the age of 12, had surpassed every other one of my children. Wow....I guess they only interviewed a handful of moms...WHO had small children? Give me freakin' break.
Hogwash. The article even states it doesn't show cause and effect. I don't know WHAT it shows. Maybe the moms are depressed because the kids are short...lol.
Seriously, all these "studies" that "may cause" or "show a link to" usually don't. I don't know whats up with research anymore...it's like they have run out of things to study so they just started making stuff up to get funding and give them something to do.
Exactly! Who is funding these studies? I find it ironic, that a study like this has been posted....when the trends have shown that people are actually TALLER these days, than they were 100 yrs ago!
Oh well, perhaps mattress manufacturers funded this study, to justify the fact that they're still making mostly "standard-sized" mattresses. LOL In order to accommodate my youngest, I just had to build an "extender", so that his brand new, full-sized mattress was long enough for him!! We couldn't afford the expense of special ordering an XL-mattress set.
I'm actually wondering if this has more to do with the way the media reported the study than what the authors were looking for. From the journal article itself, it seems that a large number of variables were examined many without significant relationships and that the height thing was one of the few significant results they found. I agree with all of you who say there is probably an unmeasured third variable that accounts for that relationship, if the relationship can even be replicated. From the media article, though, it sounds like "Oh noes, depressed moms have short kids!!" I truly abhor how studies are presented in the main stream media. I guess there is nothing glamourous or eye catching about reporting margins of error and tentative relationships that require further study.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the authors of the journal article are all affiliated with public health institutions. The public health field is all about raising awareness of issues that may not routinely be given enough attention (in this case, post partum depression). Mental health issues and depression in particular still get poo-poo'd and overlooked in more areas than one would think. But FTR, it's going to take a lot more than this study for me to get concerned about a possible relationship between maternal depression and short kids.
Last edited by eastwesteastagain; 09-13-2012 at 09:45 AM..
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