Depression in pregnancy increases risk of preterm delivery
October 24, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Women's Health
One of the first studies looking at the effects of depression on pregnancy has found that pregnant women who have symptoms of depression have double the risk of having a premature baby than women who aren’t depressed. The researchers point out that this is a clear finding – the women who were depressed did not, for the most part, take any antidepressants so the increase in preterm labor couldn’t be associated with the medications. Only 1.5% of the group were taking these medications.
Researchers followed 791 women who were interviewed when they were 10 weeks’ pregnant. At that point, 41% had symptoms of significant or severe depression. Interestingly, those with less severe symptoms had a 60% higher risk of preterm delivery (under 37 weeks) and those with severe depression had double the risk.
This is an interesting study because it is something tangible. The importance of limiting preterm births is very high. Premature infants are sicker and require more medical care. They can also end up with life-long medical disorders. By being aware of this trigger for preterm delivery, researchers have something to work on.
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Tags: pregnancy blog, pregnancy and depression, preterm labor, preterm birth, preterm infants, premature infants
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