Having children can be difficult, and having twins can feel twice as difficult. A new study shows that parents of twins more often develop postpartum depression and that mothers develop it earlier than fathers. A researcher says that monitoring the parents of twins may be advisable.
Most people who have had children know that it can be challenging at first – sometimes really challenging.
Some parents have such difficulty that they develop postpartum depression and require help from a psychologist or need antidepressant medication.
Parents’ initial time with children may become even more complicated with twins.
A new study shows that the parents of twins have a higher risk of developing postpartum depression than the parents of singletons.
“The parents of twins are a special group. They are at a higher risk of having a complicated pregnancy or obstetrical complications during birth. In addition, they must care for two babies instead of just one. In this study, we aimed to determine whether this also affects the risk of postpartum depression and whether mothers and fathers differ in risk,” explains a researcher behind the study, Sofie Dyekær Egsgaard, PhD Fellow, Research Unit of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense.
The research has been published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.
Parents of more than 1.3 million children
The researchers examined data from Denmark’s health registries on 27,050 twin and 1,350,046 singleton live births from 1997 to 2019.
They then used the Danish National Patient Register and the Danish National Prescription Register to determine whether the parents of the children had been diagnosed with depression within the first 12 months after the birth or had redeemed a prescription for antidepressant medication.
The researchers looked at mothers and fathers separately and examined different time points of when depression had occurred following the childbirth.
“The difference in timing of possible postpartum depression onset between twin and singleton parents is interesting, because this could indicate why it occurs for twin parents,” says Sofie Dyekær Egsgaard.
Increased risk of postpartum depression
The results indicate that the parents of twins have a greater risk of postpartum depression than the parents of singletons.
The risk of postpartum depression among the mothers with twins increased by 28% two months after birth. The risk increase was highest during the first six months after birth and then approached the level of the mothers of singletons.
The fathers’ risk of postpartum depression also increased. However, in contrast to the mothers, the risk did not increase immediately after birth but increased by 20% around six months after birth.
“Overall, both the mothers and fathers of twins have an increased risk of postpartum depression within their children’s first year of life. In this study, we cannot say anything directly about the underlying mechanisms driving this association, but the differences we observe are interesting, and they can help in proposing hypotheses about the causes,” explains Sofie Dyekær Egsgaard.
Potentially vulnerable parents
Sofie Dyekær Egsgaard says that it is possible that twin mothers may develop postpartum depression earlier because of the more complicated pregnancy and birth.
Further, parenting two babies rather than one can be more overwhelming, which could also make them more prone to developing postpartum depression at this time.
On the other hand, fathers do not experience the impact of pregnancy and birth in the same way as mothers, and this could be why the increased risk of postpartum depression among twin fathers only kicks in later.
Sofie Dyekær Egsgaard emphasises, however, that the analysis for the fathers is a little more uncertain, since fewer men develop postpartum depression or perhaps take longer to seek help and treatment.
What can be done?
“Our results emphasise that twin parents may be extra vulnerable to postpartum depression. Paying special attention to them immediately after childbirth may be worthwhile,” she concludes.