Predictors of Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression is a disorder that causes significant functional impairment and develops risks of poor mother-infant bonding and can delay infant development. PPD is “a physical and emotional condition that may be life-threatening, involving the symptoms of depression occurring from a month to one year following childbirth and thought to be caused in part to dramatic hormonal shifts occurring in conjunction with childbirth.” (Piotrowski & Benson, 2017) Postpartum depression symptoms often involve feelings of sadness, restlessness, guilt, insomnia, decreased energy and motivation, unexplained weight changes, frequent crying, irritability, and lessened feelings of self-worth.
Research question
Recognition …show more content…
All of the universities clinics are linked together through their records. Responses to the questionnaires had been collected during Jan 2004 to assess the patient’s mood, as well as their behavioral patterns. Patients were included in the study if they were able to complete the survey during the second or third trimester. It was difficult to gather sufficient information from some of the urban obstetrics clinics where only a small percentage of data was collected. Baseline variables were compared between women with and without postpartum depression using t-tests and Fischer Exact tests. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was utilized to calculate the odds of postpartum depression. First, they examined the unadjusted association among pre-pregnancy PHQ-9 scores and postpartum depression. Second, they added the demographic variables and reevaluated the odds for pre-pregnancy depression. The third model contained the demographics and medical conditions. The fourth model added health-related behaviors, and the fifth model also added pregnancy-related variables. Lastly, they calculated a final model predicting postpartum depression, which included all odds ratios and their ninety-five percent confidence intervals for all the predictor …show more content…
It also included stress or violence between a couple during pregnancy and any pregnancy-related complications. Limitations included a study of a population in one geographical region of the United States from a large university clinic. It also lacked structured psychiatric interviews for the diagnosis of depression and history of any depressive episodes.
Findings
The findings showed that younger, unemployed, psychosocially stressed women and development of depressive and medical disorders in early adulthood are vulnerable to postpartum depression. Also, it noted that most women had adversative health habits such as smoking. Epidemiologic data show that women growing up in a socially disadvantaged environment tend to have a higher risk for medical and psychiatric disorders, which often develop at younger ages. By being aware on all of the risk factors, most OB-GYN physicians can focus on postpartum depression cases and their findings.