Premature newborn
Depression in both expectant mothers and fathers increases the risk of premature birth, finds a study published in BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG).
Depression in women during pregnancy is known to be associated with low birth weight and increased risk of premature birth. Maternal stress, such as the death of a loved one, lack of social support, or a difficult or abusive relationship, has also been shown to increase the risk of premature birth. However, little research has examined the impact of paternal depression on the health of the mother or the unborn child.
In this study, more than 350,000 births in Sweden between 2007 and 2012 were investigated for parental depression and incidence of either very preterm birth (between 22 and 31 weeks) or moderately preterm birth (32-36 weeks).
For both men and women, depression was defined as having had a prescription of antidepressant medication, or receiving outpatient/inpatient hospital care, from 12 months before conception to the end of the second trimester of pregnancy. People with depression were classed as ‘new’ cases if they had had no […]
