The new mom happy peaks with a six month old

Then it's all downhill from there. Everyone loves a baby, the baby's mom most of all. But that doesn't mean she maintains the new baby bliss.

A study out of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that general satisfaction with life and with one's partner post baby starts to deteriorate pretty quickly for most new moms. The notable exception are those moms who were satisfied with their intimate relationships during their pregnancy. They managed to keep the happy for the three years after their babies were born.

"In this study we investigated two types of satisfaction -- satisfaction with the partner and general satisfaction with life-- both during pregnancy and later in infancy and toddlerhood," said Ragnhild Bang Nes, researcher.

For the 60,000 moms surveyed, general satisfaction with life increased in the first months after giving birth peaking at six months. After that, there was a slow decrease hitting rock bottom at three years.

There was a direct relationship between general satisfaction with life and satisfaction with partner. When the partner is a happy, general life is also a happy.

Never the less, the happy does decrease for everyone to some degree, lowering evenly and steadily until the infant is three years old.

"Most adults want to have children. Children are seen as a blessing, an enrichment and a central source of meaning, love and belonging. One would therefore expect that having a child meets both the desire and satisfies a fundamental need, which in turn creates happiness and satisfaction. However, studies show that this is not always the case. This is often called the paradox of parental life," underscored Bang Nes.

Source: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ScienceDaily