Melbourne mum Liza Peeters is happily expecting her second child, but she is also anxious.
After the birth of her daughter Ally in 2013, the 35-year-old was diagnosed with Postnatal Depression (PND).
"Sometimes I couldn't even get through the day and even the simplest things feel like impossible tasks," she said.
"Changing a nappy was sometimes just too much.”
"Even the littlest problems would feel like the end of the world."
Ms Peeters believes pregnancy and the stresses of new parenthood aggravated a pre-existing condition.
"Sometimes I couldn't even get through the day and even the simplest things feel like impossible tasks."
"Before my pregnancy I was prescribed Zoloft for anxiety because I went through a patch early in my adult life where I had some anxiety attacks."
New research supports Ms Peeters belief that her postnatal symptoms are a recurrence of problems from early adulthood.
Postnatal Depression 'not unique'
The long held belief that perinatal mental health problems - those experienced by women during pregnancy or after the birth of a baby - is a special disorder that only occurs at this point in life has been challenged by new Australian research published in The Lancet.
The Murdoch Childrens Research Institute tracked the mental health of 1,000 young women over a 14- to 20-year period before conception, during pregnancy and up until their baby turned one.
Of the women who developed perinatal depression 85% had showed symptoms of emotional problems in their teens or early adulthood.
"Before my pregnancy I was prescribed Zoloft for anxiety because I went through a patch early in my adult life where I had some anxiety attacks."
The study found women who suffered depression years before conceiving have a one in three chance of having problems with mental health during pregnancy or after the birth of a baby.
By comparison, women in the study with no history of mental health problems reported perinatal depression in one in 13 pregnancies.
“The old-held belief is that these problems of depression during pregnancy and after pregnancy were unique problems. They only occurred at that time of life. It was something to do with hormonal changes that occurred at that time of life," said lead researcher Professor George Patton.
“This [research] has blown that view out of the water."
"We can now see these problems as a continuation of problems that began generally to emerge during the teen and young adult years."
"The old-held belief is that these problems of depression during pregnancy and after pregnancy were unique problems. They only occurred at that time of life."
Professor Patton said adopting policies that put in place emotional and social supports for these women could be helpful.
“For women who experience mental health problems in these years I think counseling and psychotherapy is a good approach," he said.
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