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Post-partum stress may contribute to OCD

The Columbian
Published: March 31, 2013, 5:00pm

Shortly after Dr. Dana Gossett gave birth to her first daughter 13 years ago, she began agonizing over worst-case scenarios familiar to any new mother.

One of those concerns: What if I fall down the stairs while carrying the baby?

“It’s not something you intend to do, it’s not something you want to do, but it’s a thought that comes unbidden into your mind,” said Gossett, a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Those persistent worries are at the center of a new Northwestern Medicine study that shows postpartum mothers are nearly four times more likely to grapple with obsessive-compulsive behavior than everyone else.

“Are they really abnormal or a universal experience for all postpartum mothers?” Gossett said. “We were frankly surprised by the numbers.”

Eleven percent of several hundred mothers surveyed at two and six weeks after giving birth reported obsessive-compulsive symptoms, such as worrying too much about dirt and germs.

The study did not delve into the possible causes of the elevated anxiety, but Gossett offered her own explanation.

“We know that stress of any nature can trigger OCD,” Gossett said, referring to obsessive-compulsive disorder. “And we know that child birth and becoming a mother is enormously stressful.”

Although the fears are common, Gossett said new mothers should think twice if their concerns are causing “significant emotional distress” or interfering with everyday life, like preventing them from leaving the garage because they cannot stop checking their child’s car seat.

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