Relationship Between Maternal Expectations of Perinatal Care and Postpartum Depression

Abstract

The incidence of postpartum depression (PPD) is estimated at 13-19%, with effects reaching far beyond the affected mother. However, its precise cause is still unknown. In this double-blinded study, a 30-question Maternal Expectations Survey (MES) was developed to explore the notion that unmet maternal expectations for labor, delivery, and the immediate postpartum period impose risk factors for PPD. The MES was administered to postpartum women at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center; and scores were compared to those on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), administered 6 weeks postpartum to the same women in the outpatient setting of the clinic of their attending physician. Results of this interim analysis, using Poisson regression models, indicated that there is no significant correlation between total MES score and EPDS score. Two MES queries (relating to spontaneous onset of labor and coping mechanisms during labor) are independently predictive of an increased EPDS score. With attainment of adequate power, other components of the MES may emerge as genuine risk factors for PPD and help identify women who would benefit from earlier-than-usual, pre-emptive postpartum counseling. This study also served to buttress the validity of 5 considering the presence of neonatal health complications as a risk factor for PPD; and, conversely, it identified obstetric complications, neonatal health complications and a recent stressful life event as significant predictors of an increased MES score. Additionally, the presence of a written birth plan is also a significant predictor of increased