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Pat (mimihagane) wrote in depression,
@ 2008-10-27 07:55:00

STUDY | Depression could be factor in preterm births
BY RITA RUBIN, October 27, 2008

Depression in pregnant women could help explain the growing problem of preterm delivery.

While post-partum depression ''has long been recognized as a serious public health problem,'' Kaiser Permanente researchers write in the journal Human Reproduction, "depression during pregnancy has not been well-studied.'' It's not clear how common depression is in pregnant women and how it affects their babies, the authors write.

''Depression during pregnancy is really under-diagnosed, both by women and by obstetricians,'' lead author De-Kun Li, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, said in an interview.

Li and his co-authors screened women for depression about 10 weeks into their pregnancies. More than 40 percent reported having significant depressive symptoms, and half of those women reported having severe depressive symptoms.

A total of 791 women completed the screening and delivered a live baby. Women who, after being screened, went on to miscarry -- defined as a pregnancy loss before 20 weeks' gestation -- were excluded from the analysis.

Overall, after accounting for other factors that might play a role, women with significant depressive symptoms were nearly twice as likely to deliver a baby preterm -- or before 37 complete weeks' gestation -- than those without significant depressive symptoms.

The authors speculate that depression during pregnancy might interfere with placental hormones that help maintain a healthy pregnancy and ensure that labor doesn't start too early. In addition, they write, their study suggests that low education level and stressful events could exacerbate the effect of depressive symptoms on the risk of preterm delivery.

Gannett News Service

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ardath_rekha
2008-10-27 08:56 am UTC (link)

That's a really cool article. I'd heard, from one of my therapists a few years back, that there were also some ties between maternal depression during pregnancy and the mood and behavior of the baby after it was born... she said that babies born to mothers who were suffering depression at the time tended to be more anxious.

It would be interesting to match up information about how different antidepressants affect the situation, too. There's a lot of conflicting data there because nobody can do an actual experiment directly on human subjects (and for good reason). So I've heard first that you were supposed to go off Prozac if you were pregnant, then someone claimed that it wasn't an issue because it wouldn't cross the placental barrier, then someone else said it would cross the placental barrier but wouldn't actually harm the fetus, someone else disagreed, etc. etc.

But if depression during pregnancy can have such a big impact on carrying a baby to term (and/or on the baby's own mental health afterward) it would be really nice to have some antidepressants that were confirmed as safe to use while pregnant. It's been a while since I've checked to see if any were.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

mimihagane
2008-10-27 09:36 am UTC (link)

I have a nephew who was born 3 months premature, 20 years ago. He has several birth defects because of it and may go blind soon.

He's in, someways, a deeper depression than I was. And I was VERY low, for years.

His mother was extremely depressed during his term. And in my opinion, is a depressive now.

He mimics so much of her subtle negative aspects of her behaviour, but amplified greatly. Even sounding like her often.

She doesn't know what to do anymore.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

tribal_tiger
2008-10-27 06:55 pm UTC (link)

they've done studies on animals with those antidepressants, and the children had birth defects. it also works like hard drugs where if the mother's addicted, the child goes into severe withdrawl once they're born. because animals don't have the same congnative abilities as humans, it's unknown whether or not it affects the development of parts of the brain that regulate emotions.

usually, it's best to figure out this stuff on a case by case basis. very low dosages don't seem to have any immediate side effects, but might affect the child later on, but it's not really something i'd ever feel comfortable playing with.

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	chickgonebad 2008-10-27 02:17 pm UTC (link)
	I have to wonder if the depression isn't a symptom of a chemical imbalance that contributes to preterm delivery. Two phenomena existing at the same time is insufficient evidence that one causes the other. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	tribal_tiger 2008-10-27 06:56 pm UTC (link)
	i'd like to see them study pregnancies in women who have suffered depression since long before their pregnancy. if the same results show up, then the depression is more likely to cause the pre-term delivery, and if not, then depression during pregnancy is caused by something different. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	chickgonebad 2008-10-28 08:37 am UTC (link)
	That would certainly be indicative. Just as an example, pregnancy hormones exacerbate my depression to the point of incapacity. For this reason (and a few others), I can't take birth control pills, which basically emulate pregnancy. I wonder if other women are the same? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tribal_tiger 2008-10-28 10:33 pm UTC (link)
	really. is that how those work. huh. explains a few things... my depression is worse when i'm off of BC because my pms gets pretty severe. kinda hard to be in a good mood when you're going psycho and you're cramping so hard you can barely walk. >.> (Reply to this) (Parent)