Preterm Birth a Risk Factor for Postpartum Depression in Pakistani Women

Abstract

A Pakistani cohort of 170 mothers of full-term infants and 34 mothers of preterm infants were screened at 6 weeks after delivery to compare the rate of PPD, and examine the contribution of parenting stress and mother-infant interaction to PPD among mothers of preterm infants. Mothers completed the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, and a general questionnaire. Mothers of preterm infants also completed the parental stress scale and parental bonding questionnaire. The rate of PPD was significantly higher with the adjusted odds increasing by 2.68 (95% Confidence Interval 1.16-6.17, p = .015) in mothers of preterm infants. Significantly more depressed mothers of preterm infants did not receive some level of support from their husbands (p = .014), and had some level of difficulty feeding (p = .03) or identifying the amount to feed their infant (p = .02). A large proportion of mothers reported no support from friends in rearing children.