Many new moms have health/mental problems

NEW YORK, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Many women report newly experienced physical and mental problems six to 18 months after giving birth, a U.S. non-profit group said.

Childbirth Connection, a national not-for-profit organization that works to improve the quality of maternity care, said at six or more months after giving birth, 43 percent of mothers still feel stressed, 40 percent had problems with weight control, 34 percent experience sleep loss, 26 percent lack of sexual desire and 24 percent suffered from back pain.

Among those who had a Cesarean birth, 31 percent reported numbness and 18 percent reported continued pain at the incision site after at least six months. Forty-four of all mothers report that physical and/or emotional health impairment had interfered with the care of their babies.

"Postpartum mothers experience a troubling burden of physical and emotional health challenges after giving birth. Although many of these problems abate over time, far too many women were still experiencing them from 6 to 18 months after birth," Maureen Corry, executive director of Childbirth Connection, said in a statement.

"With more than 4.3 million births each year in the United States, it is an urgent priority to better understand the reason for these challenges."