HEALTH REPORT - Helping Depressed Mothers

HEALTH REPORT - Helping¹ Depressed² Mothers
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Wednesday, December 29, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.

A mental health researcher who has studied depressed mothers in Pakistan plans an effort next year to help them. Doctor Atif Rahman is in the Department of Child Psychiatry³ at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in England.

Doctor Rahman led a team that linked depression⁴ in women with lower⁵ weight in their babies during the first year of life. The team studied six hundred thirty-two women from small villages in Rawalpindi. The women were in good physical health and in the last three months of pregnancy⁶.

The study identified one hundred sixty of the women, or one in four, as depressed. They had lost interest and pleasure in normal life. They always felt sad or tired. They had problems eating or sleeping. They felt guilty⁷ and thought about killing⁸ themselves.

The researchers compared these women with one hundred sixty others who were not depressed. Health workers then weighed and measured the babies of both groups at birth. Re-examinations took place at two, six and twelve months of age. The health workers also re-examined the mental health of the mothers.

Babies whose mothers remained depressed grew less than the babies of the other women. The babies of the depressed mothers were also more likely to get sick with diarrhea. The findings⁹ appeared in September in Archives of General Psychiatry.

Earlier studies showed that ten to fifteen percent of pregnant¹⁰ women and new mothers in Western nations suffer from depression. Other studies in South Asia have found that depression affects almost two times as many women in developing¹¹ countries.

Conditions in poor countries can make it more difficult to care for a baby. Doctor Rahman says depression can make it even more difficult for a mother to do things such as boil water to kill harmful organisms¹².

For ten years, Pakistan has employed what are called "lady health workers." These women visit new mothers for up to a year. The workers offer advice about things like health and cleanliness.

Now Doctor Rahman wants to add special support for depressed mothers. The idea is that the health worker will listen to the mother's problems and suggest some easy things at first that she can do for her baby. The program will be tested for three years to see how well it succeeds.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

4 depression   

n.压抑，抑制，沮丧；萧条，衰退

参考例句：

• During a depression money circulates slowly.在商业萧条时期，货币流通滞缓。
• He suffers from acute depression.他患有严重的忧郁症。

5 lower   

adj.较低的；地位较低的，低等的；低年级的；下游的；vt.放下，降下，放低；减低

参考例句：

• Society is divided into upper,middle and lower classes.社会分为上层、中层和下层阶级。
• This price is his minimum;he refuses to lower it any further.这个价格是他开的最低价，他拒绝再作任何降价。

6 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

7 guilty   

adj.犯罪的；有罪的；内疚的

参考例句：

• There wasn't enough evidence to prove him guilty.没有充分的证据证明他有罪。
• Really honest people are ofter made to feel guilty.真正老实的人常被弄得感到犯了罪似的。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

10 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

11 developing   

adj.发展中的

参考例句：

• Transport has always been the key to developing trade.运输一直是发展贸易的关键。
• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。

12 organisms   

n.有机物( organism的名词复数 )；有机体；生物；有机体系

参考例句：

• The organisms can be divided into discrete categories. 有机体可分为许多互不相联的种类。
• The cell is the unit of which all living organisms are composed. 细胞是构成一切生物的单位。