Pregnancy

About: Pregnancy is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 163969 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4013502 citations. The topic is also known as: pregnancy & gestation.

Sociodemographic predictors of antenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms among women in a medical group practice

Abstract: Objective: Data are scarce regarding the sociodemographic predictors of antenatal and postpartum depression. This study investigated whether race/ethnicity, age, finances, and partnership status were associated with antenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms. Setting: 1662 participants in Project Viva, a US cohort study. Design: Mothers indicated mid-pregnancy and six month postpartum depressive symptoms on the Edinburgh postpartum depression scale (EPDS). Associations of sociodemographic factors with odds of scoring >12 on the EPDS were estimated. Main results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 9% at mid-pregnancy and 8% postpartum. Black and Hispanic mothers had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms compared with non-Hispanic white mothers. These associations were explained by lower income, financial hardship, and higher incidence of poor pregnancy outcome among minority women. Young maternal age was associated with greater risk of antenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms, largely attributable to the prevalence of financial hardship, unwanted pregnancy, and lack of a partner. The strongest risk factor for antenatal depressive symptoms was a history of depression (OR = 4.07; 95% CI 3.76, 4.40), and the strongest risk for postpartum depressive symptoms was depressive symptoms during pregnancy (6.78; 4.07, 11.31) or a history of depression before pregnancy (3.82; 2.31, 6.31). Conclusions: Financial hardship and unwanted pregnancy are associated with antenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms. Women with a history of depression and those with poor pregnancy outcomes are especially vulnerable to depressive symptoms during the childbearing year. Once these factors are taken in account, minority mothers have the same risk of antenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms as white mothers.

"Atypical" depression following childbirth

Abstract: It is well known that women are often depressed after child-birth, but only those ill enough to be admitted to hospital have received much study. A random sample of 305 maternity hospital patients was given a questionnaire designed to measure anxiety and depression associated with childbirth in the seventh month of pregnancy and again 6-8 weeks after delivery. Potential depressives, whose scores had increased, and potential controls, free from depression, with unchanged or diminished scores, were thus obtained, and the diagnosis was confirmed or excluded by clinical interview. Depressives were followed up by questionnaire one year later. Thirty-three (10-8 per cent.) subjects developed puerperal depression. In only one of these was the illness classical; in the rest it was atypical. Twelve depressives (3.9 per cent. of the total population studied) had not improved after one year. There were also 19 subjects (6.2 per cent.) with new or exacerbated psychological symptoms who were classified as doubtfully depressed. Depressives differed most from controls in their M.P.I. scores. Their neuroticism scores were highly significantly greater, and their extraversion scores significantly less. It is unsure whether these scores represented their previous personalities, or simply the fact that they were depressed. At probably significant levels, more depressives had a history of recent dysmenorrohea, more had been married for less than three years, fewer had obstetric complications in pregnancy, and more suffered "Maternity Blues" in the early puerperium. There were no significant differences in respect of previous psychiatric, physical or obstetric disorder, age, endocrine abnormality, complicated labour or obvious psychological or social factors. Atypical depression is, therefore, a common and important complication of the puerperium, about which more needs to be known.