Postpartum anxiety more common than depression

Postpartum anxiety is more common than depression in the days and months following delivery, and is associated with adverse maternal heath outcomes and reduced duration of breastfeeding, according to a study published online in Pediatrics.

Ian M. Paul, MD, from Penn State University in Hershey, and colleagues compared correlates of anxiety with correlates of depression among 1,123 mothers with "well" newborns born ≥34 weeks’ gestation. To assess health-care use, breastfeeding duration, anxiety, and depression, participants were interviewed in-person during the postpartum stay and by telephone surveys at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 6 months. All participants planned to breastfeed.

The researchers found that, at baseline, 17% of participants were positive on the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and 6% were positive on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Survey (EPDS). There was a significant association between primiparity and a positive STAI (20% versus 15%; P = 0.02), but not a positive EPDS (4% versus 7%; P = 0.05). Cesarean delivery, reduced duration of breastfeeding, and increased maternal, but not infant, total unplanned health-care utilization within 2 weeks of delivery were all significantly associated with positive STAI scores. At each assessment through 6 months postpartum, positive STAI scores occurred more frequently than positive EPDS scores.

“Postpartum-state anxiety is a common, acute phenomenon during the maternity hospitalization that is associated with increased maternal health-care utilization after discharge and reduced breastfeeding duration,” write the authors. “State anxiety screening during the postpartum stay could improve these outcomes.”

To access the abstract, click here.

Postpartum anxiety is more common than depression in the days and months following delivery, and is associated with adverse maternal heath outcomes and reduced duration of breastfeeding, according to a study published online in Pediatrics.

Ian M. Paul, MD, from Penn State University in Hershey, and colleagues compared correlates of anxiety with correlates of depression among 1,123 mothers with "well" newborns born ≥34 weeks’ gestation. To assess health-care use, breastfeeding duration, anxiety, and depression, participants were interviewed in-person during the postpartum stay and by telephone surveys at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 6 months. All participants planned to breastfeed.

The researchers found that, at baseline, 17% of participants were positive on the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and 6% were positive on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Survey (EPDS). There was a significant association between primiparity and a positive STAI (20% versus 15%; P = 0.02), but not a positive EPDS (4% versus 7%; P = 0.05). Cesarean delivery, reduced duration of breastfeeding, and increased maternal, but not infant, total unplanned health-care utilization within 2 weeks of delivery were all significantly associated with positive STAI scores. At each assessment through 6 months postpartum, positive STAI scores occurred more frequently than positive EPDS scores.

“Postpartum-state anxiety is a common, acute phenomenon during the maternity hospitalization that is associated with increased maternal health-care utilization after discharge and reduced breastfeeding duration,” write the authors. “State anxiety screening during the postpartum stay could improve these outcomes.”

To access the abstract, click here.

Postpartum anxiety is more common than depression in the days and months following delivery, and is associated with adverse maternal heath outcomes and reduced duration of breastfeeding, according to a study published online in Pediatrics.

Ian M. Paul, MD, from Penn State University in Hershey, and colleagues compared correlates of anxiety with correlates of depression among 1,123 mothers with "well" newborns born ≥34 weeks’ gestation. To assess health-care use, breastfeeding duration, anxiety, and depression, participants were interviewed in-person during the postpartum stay and by telephone surveys at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 6 months. All participants planned to breastfeed.

The researchers found that, at baseline, 17% of participants were positive on the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and 6% were positive on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Survey (EPDS). There was a significant association between primiparity and a positive STAI (20% versus 15%; P = 0.02), but not a positive EPDS (4% versus 7%; P = 0.05). Cesarean delivery, reduced duration of breastfeeding, and increased maternal, but not infant, total unplanned health-care utilization within 2 weeks of delivery were all significantly associated with positive STAI scores. At each assessment through 6 months postpartum, positive STAI scores occurred more frequently than positive EPDS scores.

“Postpartum-state anxiety is a common, acute phenomenon during the maternity hospitalization that is associated with increased maternal health-care utilization after discharge and reduced breastfeeding duration,” write the authors. “State anxiety screening during the postpartum stay could improve these outcomes.”

To access the abstract, click here.