Mothers who are being treated for depression and have recently given birth are significantly less likely to continue therapy than women who have not had a delivery. This is the result of an evaluation by the WIG2 Institute of 116,532 anonymous data records from insured persons. 58,266 records of parents who had a child in the past four years were compared to an equally large comparison group of insured persons who had not had a child in this period. The client of the study is the SBK Siemens company health insurance fund, which provides information about the results in a press release.
Significant differences in specialist contacts
If one compares the group of mothers who were in treatment for depression before the birth of a child (n=2,166) with the corresponding group of non-mothers (n=2,038), the result is: In the year after the birth (second observation year ) of the mothers in therapy, 50 percent are still in psychotherapeutic treatment. In the comparison group of non-mothers, it is still 70 percent in the second year. “After the birth, around half of the mothers stop the specialist treatment for their depression,” emphasizes the SBK. “For women without childbirth, it’s less than a third.”
This difference in the continuation of therapy between women with and without a baby can also be clearly seen from the number of specialist contacts, the health insurance company continues. “At the beginning of the observation (in the group of mothers, i.e. in the year before the birth), the group of expectant mothers has an average of nine contacts with psychologists or psychiatrists, the women in the comparison group have 10.6 specialist contacts per year. According to the analysis results, in the year of delivery, the number of contacts between infant mothers and the relevant specialists fell by half to an average of 4.7 and did not increase in the following two years either. “For women without childbirth, a slow decline in contacts from 10.6 to 6 specialist contacts over four years can be observed.”
It is also more difficult to start therapy after the birth
In the group of mothers who had already been diagnosed with depression before the birth of their child but were not being treated (n=3,719), according to health insurance data, 5.6 percent go into therapy in the year of the birth. In the matching comparison group of non-mothers (n=4,189), 11.1 percent were in treatment in the second year of observation. “Twice as many non-mothers as new mothers who have already been diagnosed with depression start therapy between the first and second year of observation,” summarizes the SBK.
And what about the men? “There are no significant differences in therapy behavior between the groups of fathers and non-fathers,” writes the health insurer succinctly.
Two possible explanations
What can be concluded from these findings? “The described results of the data analysis show: The group of mothers uses less psychotherapeutic therapies than the group of non-mothers”. The statement goes on to say: “However, the data do not provide any indication of the causes of these differences.” According to the SBK, there are at least two possible explanations: “On the one hand, the data can indicate that mothers of small children do not find the necessary freedom take sufficient care of their (mental) health. On the other hand, the decline in the use of therapy offers could be explained by the fact that the baby has a positive effect on the mental health of the mother. Depending on the case, both explanatory patterns are probably part of the truth.” Only further research can provide clarity here, the health insurance company states.
The lack of therapy places could also play a role: in many places it is associated with great commitment to organize a therapy place – for mothers who take care of small children, this may be particularly difficult to achieve. In addition, appointments are often inflexible, which, according to the SBK, collides with the tightly scheduled everyday life with small children. In addition, there are often long journeys, especially in rural areas.
Do new moms fall through the cracks?
“If you superimpose the reality of care in psychotherapy with our data analyses, there are starting points for the assumption that some mothers of infants or small children in psychotherapeutic care fall through the cracks,” says Junior Professor Dennis Häckl, Managing Director of the WIG2 Institute. “This can have serious consequences for the women and their families. Further research on the cause of the differences in the use of therapy between the mothers and non-mothers group is therefore desirable. In particular, the significant decline in therapies for women who already suffered from depression before childbirth deserves further attention.”