Prenatal wellness classes reduced mothers’ depression up to 8 years later

Pregnant women who participated in weekly wellness classes were half as likely to be depressed up to 8 years later, compared with women who received standard care, researchers reported in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Prenatal depression affects 12% to 27% of pregnant women and is one of the strongest predictors of persistent depression, Danielle S. Roubinov, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues wrote.

Roubinov and colleagues sought to examine whether a prenatal mindfulness intervention with demonstrated benefits for depressive symptoms during the early postpartum period would still see effects after 8 years.

A total of 162 women were recruited during pregnancy. They were randomized to participate in either an 8-week mindfulness-based group intervention (n = 89), which focused on stress, depression, healthy eating and gestational weight gain, or treatment as usual (n = 73).

Repeated assessment of depressive symptoms were gauged through the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 at baseline, postintervention and each year following childbirth. The authors noted the most recent assessment was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors reported that although baseline depressive symptoms did not differ by condition, all postbaseline pairwise comparisons of mean differences between the two groups were significant (mean differences ranged from –1.9 to –3.2).

The odds of moderate to higher depressive symptoms were greater among women who received treatment as usual, compared with women who were a part of the mindfulness group intervention, at all time points other than at follow-up during year 6 (ORs, 1.2-2.5).

“Given the economic and social burden of maternal depression and its potential impact on offspring, our findings suggest a meaningful benefit of a modest investment during pregnancy that supports well-being across two generations,” Roubinov said in a release from UCSF.

References:

Prenatal wellness classes cut moms’ depression in half up to 8 years later. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2022/11/424336/prenatal-wellness-classes-cut-moms-depression-half-8-years-later. Published Nov. 29, 2022. Accessed Dec. 5, 2022.