Post-natal blues before birth? It’s in the stars (too)
Kate Moss’s medic: Depression can set in early
by Sarah Harrison
OBSTETRICIAN to the stars, Yehudi Gordon, believes he has the
key to helping his celebrity clients avoid post-natal
depression.
Mr Gordon, who is set to deliver supermodel Kate Moss’s baby in
a birthing pool, warns his patients not to concentrate on the birth
itself.
The specialist, who works at the private St John and St
Elizabeth Hospital in St John’s Wood, is also believed to have
delivered film stars Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet’s babies.
He criticised traditional midwives’ focus on preparing a
pregnant woman for labour.
Instead, he believes expectant mothers should see the birth as
the start to family life, rather than the end of pregnancy.
In his new book, Birth and Beyond, Mr Gordon says women find it
harder to cope with the new arrival if they spend too much time
preparing for the birth.
He claims women can expect to start experiencing symptoms of
post-natal depression as early as the eighth month of pregnancy,
rather than after the birth, as previously believed.
The key to combating depression is to make sure the woman has a
network of support systems, including community groups, friends and
relatives, he says. “Post-natal depression will certainly be reduced
if there is enough support around the mother to make life a little
easier.”
The 60-year-old was one of the first medics to bring water
births to Britain in the 1980s, having been introduced to it by a
French doctor.
The father-of-three said the concept was practically unheard of
in the UK in the ’70s, even though French women were already
praising its benefits then.
Now, he says, about 100 women give birth in St John and St
Elizabeth Hospital’s two birthing pools every year and the delivery
process is becoming more popular.
Mr Gordon, who lives in Hampstead Garden Suburb, said the
principle of water births is easy to understand. “If you think about
the sensation you get when you are in the bath – you instantly feel
more relaxed. It means that giving birth can be a lot less painful
because the woman is naturally more calm,” he said.
