It’s important to make sure parents and babies are happy and healthy. New parents are sometimes diagnosed with depression or anxiety. An infant’s mental health can impact their overall development.

Jade Elliott sits down with Heather Kunz, social worker, Salt Lake County Health Department, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast to talk about parental and infant mental health.

Maternal Mental Health

Depression

Approximately 15% of women experience significant depression following childbirth. The percentages are even higher for women who are also dealing with poverty and can be twice as high for teen parents. 10% of women experience depression during pregnancy. In fact, perinatal depression is the most common complication of childbirth.

A woman might experience feelings of:

• Anger
  
• Sadness
  
• Irritability
  
• Guilt
  
• Lack of interest in the baby
  
• Changes in eating and sleeping habits
  
• Trouble concentrating
  
• Thoughts of hopelessness
  

To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on how new and expecting moms can manage their mental health by using the acronym SNOWBALL, click here.

To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on postpartum depression and dads, click here.

Anxiety

Approximately 6% of pregnant women and 10% of postpartum women develop anxiety. Sometimes they experience anxiety alone, and sometimes they experience it in addition to depression.

This could include:

• Constant worry.
  
• Feeling that something bad is going to happen.
  
• Racing thoughts
  
• Disturbance of sleep and appetite
  
• Inability to sit still
  
• Physical symptoms like, dizziness, hot flashes, and nausea
  

To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on postpartum anxiety and OCD, click here.

It’s important to seek help if you’re having any of these feelings, and family members can encourage the women in their lives to take care of themselves. There is no shame or embarrassment is acknowledging these feelings and in asking for help. You are not alone—in addition to seeking individual help from a mental health provider, support groups are a great way to help deal with these feelings. Utah Postpartum Support International is a good resource to use.

Infant Mental Health

Infant mental health is reflected in appropriate cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Recognizing the unique characteristics of each infant and family—the circumstances in which they live—we characterize good mental health for children under 5 as:

• Secure attachments
  
• Positive relationships
  
• Confidence
  
• Curiosity
  
• Effective communication
  
• Increasing self-regulation
  
• Social competence
  
• Self-awareness
  
• Expressions of love and happiness
  

Infant mental health changes and develops within the context of relationships between infants and caregivers, families, communities, and cultures. Parents should talk to their pediatrician if they’re concerned about their child’s development. There are also resources available at the Utah Association for Infant Mental Health.

Materials to use (or things to do) with infants or toddlers (0-3)

• Books, such as the picture book by Chandra Ghosh Ippen “Once I Was Very Very Scared” (available in English and Spanish)
  
• Safe place to hide (e.g., a tent, cardboard box, sheets and pillows)
  
• Weighted blankets/Weighted items (e.g., beans in socks)
  
• Sensory bin (e.g., rice, sand, water with toys or other objects to find and explore)
  
• Lovey / stuffed animalM
  
• Soothing music or singing
  
• Pretend play toys
  
• Essential oils (or play with smells from fruit, flowers, etc)
  
• Feel things with your eyes closed
  
• Story massages
  
• Dance & movement (alternated with calm/quiet activities)
  
• Rhythmic or activities (e.g., rocking, swinging, swaying)
  
• Mirror Game/Imitation play (i.e., copy all the sounds and actions of the child)
  
• Blow bubbles (and pop with different body parts)
  
• Art play (e.g., finger paints, dough, large motor movements on big sheets of paper)
  
• Nurturing, fun games involving food (i.e., bit size pieces with different textures, colors, shapes)
  

To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on the program, Parents as Teachers, which provides parents with child development knowledge and parenting support, click here.

Find Statewide Resources Via:

Help Me Grow Utah – for individualized parenting support & information & connection to resources (connected with 2-1-1)

Medical Home Portal

The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.