Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T19:06:30.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Links Between Early Post-partum Mood and Post-natal Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Patricia Hannah ,
Diana Adams ,
Angela Lee ,
Vivette Glover  and
M. Sandler
Patricia Hannah
Affiliation:
Bernhardt Baron Memorial Research Laboratories, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Goldhawk Road, London W6 0XG
Diana Adams
Affiliation:
Bernhardt Baron Memorial Research Laboratories, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Goldhawk Road, London W6 0XG
Angela Lee
Affiliation:
Bernhardt Baron Memorial Research Laboratories, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Goldhawk Road, London W6 0XG
Vivette Glover
Affiliation:
Bernhardt Baron Memorial Research Laboratories, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Goldhawk Road, London W6 0XG
M. Sandler*
Affiliation:
Bernhardt Baron Memorial Research Laboratories, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Goldhawk Road, London W6 0XG
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to rate 217 patients at five days and six weeks post-partum. There was a highly significant positive correlation between the two scores, together with similar symptom profiles. Of the 25 women who suffered postnatal depression (6–week EPDS score ≥13), 17 had similar symptoms in the first week postpartum (5–day EPDS score ≥10). Low birth weight of the baby, delivery by Caesarean section, a delivery much more difficult than expected, and bottle feeding were all significantly associated with a high EPDS score in the first week post-partum. Bottle feeding and delivery by Caesarean section were the only factors associated with depression at the sixth week. A recollection of low mood after a previous birth was also associated with post-natal depression after the current birth. This, together with an EPDS score of 13 or more at five days post-partum, increased the risk of post-natal depression at six weeks 85–fold.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 160 , Issue 6 , June 1992 , pp. 777 - 780
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ballinger, C. B., Buckley, D. E., Naylor, G. J., et al (1979) Emotional disturbance following childbirth: clinical findings and urinary excretion of cyclic AMP (adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate). Psychological Medicine, 9, 293–300.Google Scholar
Condon, J. T. & Watson, T. L. (1987). The maternity blues: exploration of a psychological hypothesis. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 76, 164–171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, J. P., Campbell, E. A., Day, A., et al (1988) Non-psychiatric disorder after childbirth – a prospective study of prevalence, incidence, course and nature. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 799–806.Google Scholar
Cox, J. L., Connor, Y. & Kendell, R. E. (1982) Prospective study of psychiatric disorders of childbirth. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 111–117.Google Scholar
Cox, J. L., Holden, J. M. & Sagovsky, R. (1987) Detection of postnatal depression: development of the 10–item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 782–786.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dean, C. & Kendell, R. E. (1981) The symptomatology of puerperal illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 128–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gennaro, S. (1988) Postpartal anxiety and depression in mothers of term and preterm infants. Nursing Research, 37, 82–85.Google Scholar
Hapgood, C. C., Elkind, G. S. & Wright, J. J. (1988) Maternity blues: phenomena and relationship to later postpartum depression. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 22, 299–306.Google Scholar
Harding, J. J. (1989) Postpartum psychiatric disorders: a review. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 30, 109–112.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. & Robson, K. M. (1978) Neurotic disturbances during pregnancy and the puerperium: preliminary report of a prospective study of 119 primiparae. In Mental Illness in Pregnancy and the Puerperium (ed. Sandler, M.), pp. 40–51. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. & Robson, K. M. (1984) A prospective study of emotional disorders in childbearing women. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 35–47.Google Scholar
Meares, R., Grimwade, J. & Wood, C. (1976) A possible relationship between anxiety and pregnancy and puerperal depression. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 20, 605–610.Google Scholar
Melges, F. T. (1968) Postpartum psychiatric syndromes. Psychosomatic Medicine, 30, 95.Google Scholar
Nott, P. N. (1987) Extent, timing and persistence of emotional disorders following childbirth. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 523–527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nott, P. N., Franklin, M., Armitage, C., et al (1976) Hormonal changes and mood in the early puerperium. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 379–383.Google Scholar
O'Hara, M. W., Rehm, L. P. & Campbell, S. B. (1982) Predicting depressive symptomatology: cognitive-behavioral models and postpartum depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91, 457–461.Google Scholar
O'Hara, M. W., Neunaber, D. J. & Zekoski, E. M. (1984) Prospective study of postpartum depression: prevalence, course and predictive factors. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 158–171.Google Scholar
Pitt, B. (1968) Atypical depression following childbirth. British Journal of Psychiatry, 114, 1325–1335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitt, B. (1973) Maternity blues. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 431–433.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Playfair, H. R. & Gowers, J. I. (1981) Depression following childbirth – a search for predictive signs. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 31, 201–208.Google Scholar
Stein, A., Cooper, P. J., Campbell, E. A., et al (1989) Social adversity and perinatal complications: their relation to postnatal depression. British Medical Journal, 29, 1073–1074.Google Scholar
Stein, G. S. (1980) The pattern of mental change and body weight change in the first postpartum week. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 24, 165–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tod, E. D. M. (1964) Puerperal depression – a prospective epidemiological study. Lancet, ii, 1264–1266.Google Scholar
Watson, J. P., Elliott, S. A., Rugg, A. J., et al (1984) Psychiatric disorder in pregnancy and the first postnatal year. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 453–462.Google Scholar
Whiffen, V. E. (1988) Vulnerability to postpartum depression: a prospective multivariate study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 467–474.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolkind, S., Zajicek, E., Coleman, E., et al (1980) Continuities in maternal depression. International Journal of Family Psychiatry, 1, 167–182.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.