These challenges entail
heightened levels of maternal stress that might complicate
the postpartum period and affect mothers’ mental health.
In fact, a study by Lawoko and Soares (Lawoko & Soares,
2002) showed that when comparing differences in distress
(e.g., depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation) among parents
of children with CHD, parents of children with other
diseases, and parents of healthy children, mothers of children
with CHD were generally at higher risk, reporting the
highest levels of distress compared to the mothers in the
other groups