Two recent reports explore the relationship between abuse and risk for perinatal depression. The first is a study which analyzed data from 53,065 pregnant women participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). [...]
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is relatively common among pregnant and postpartum women. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD for women is about 10%. PTSD is most prevalent among women of childbearing age and PTSD symptoms are common during pregnancy. Earlier this year, we reported on a study which observed that women with a diagnosis of PTSD had an increased risk of preterm birth. The risk was particularly high in those women with diagnoses of both PTSD and a major depressive episode; these women had a 4-fold increased risk of preterm birth.
While we are becoming more attentive to screening for depressive symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period, we may not always ask about a history of trauma, especially when a woman has had what most would consider an “uncomplicated” pregnancy. A recent study, however, indicates that a history of trauma may be a risk factor for depression during pregnancy.
Pregnancy loss may cause great psychological stress for women. How such a loss, whether or not the woman identifies it as a stressor, affects her emotional well-being after the birth of a future child is unknown. In order to better understand the relationship between pregnancy loss and risk for postpartum psychiatric illness, researchers assessed 192 women at their first-year pediatric well-child care visits in an urban pediatric clinic. In this group of low income mothers, 49% of the women reported a previous pregnancy loss (miscarriage, stillbirth, or induced abortion).
Multiple studies have demonstrated that childhood maltreatment is associated with subsequent difficulties. Researchers from the University of Michigan assessed parenting behaviors in women with a history of childhood abuse and neglect (n?=?97) and a healthy control comparison group (n?=?53). Participants were assessed at 6 weeks, 4 months, and 6 months postpartum. At 6 months, a home visit was conducted and mothers and infants participated in a dyadic play interaction later coded for positive parenting behaviors by blinded raters.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after childbirth is an understudied condition. Traditionally, much of the data have been based on case reports, indicating that PTSD can occur following a range of childbirth and child loss situations, including long or complicated labor, severe pain with labor or delivery, cesarean section, and unanticipated pregnancy outcome, such as child loss, miscarriage or infant birth defects. PTSD related to childbirth is frequently overlooked by physicians; the relative newness of the diagnosis and lack of literature on this topic are factors which may hinder recognition of this disorder.
