Postpartum depression risk lower in women who deliver in winter

Findings presented at the Anesthesiology Annual Meeting indicated positive associations between postpartum depression and BMI, gestational age, and delivery season.

“We wanted to find out whether there are certain factors influencing the risk of developing postpartum depression that may be avoided to improve women’s health both physically and mentally,” Jie Zhou, MD, of Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, said in a press release.

To assess associations between postpartum depression and various factors, such as anesthesia types, delivery mode, gestational age, BMI and more, researchers conducted a retrospective chart review of 20,198 women who delivered at Partners Healthcare System Hospitals from June 2015 through March 2017.

Overall, 2.8% of the cohort had postpartum depression.

As gestational age increased, incidence of postpartum depression decreased (P = .028).

BMI was positively associated with postpartum depression (P = .012).

Compared with white women, black women had a lower risk for postpartum depression (P = .037), while Hispanic women had comparable incidence.

Anesthesia modes, offspring gender, APGAR scores, and delivery modes were not significantly associated with postpartum depression.

Women who delivered in winter had lower risk for postpartum depression, compared with women who delivered in the summer (P = .041), spring (P = .038), and autumn (P = .003).

“The significant difference in the risk of developing [postpartum depression] between Caucasian and other populations may be due to differences in socioeconomic status among these ethnicities,” Zhou said in the release. “While women with increased BMI needed more hospital-based maternal outpatient follow-ups and had more pregnancy-related complications, which could affect maternal outlook.” – by Amanda Oldt

Reference:

Zhou J, et al. Factors play a role in the incidence of postpartum depression: A retrospective cohort study. Presented at: Anesthesiology Annual Meeting; Oct. 21-25, 2017; Boston.

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