Postpartum Depression After Delivering Twins

As the single mother of unexpected twins, Melissa Fry of Roseville, Calif., felt she had to do everything on her own so she wouldn't be a burden on her family. "I was determined to do it all by myself and not ask for help," says Fry. "I became physically and mentally exhausted."

Eight weeks after her daughters were born, Fry went back to work full time and tried to care for the twins on her own. She quickly became overwhelmed but did nothing about it. "I lied to my doctor when he asked me questions about how I was feeling because I thought I should be handling things better than I was," she says.

After being hospitalized twice for attempted suicide, Fry was diagnosed with postpartum depression (PPD). With therapy and a low dose of antidepressants, she is recovering.

Unfortunately, Fry's story isn't unique. According to Nancy Bowers, author of The Multiple Pregnancy Sourcebook (McGraw-Hill, 2001), the incidence of postpartum depression and anxiety disorders in mothers with multiple infants is estimated at 25 percent. In mothers of singletons, only about 10 percent of women are affected.

"Many parents say that demands are not just doubled with twins or tripled with three babies, but they increase exponentially," says Bowers. "In addition, half of twins and nearly all higher-order multiples are born preterm and may have health problems secondary to prematurity."

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