Maternal and fetal outcomes among women with depression

Abstract

Objective: To compare maternal and fetal outcomes among women with and without diagnosed depression at the time of delivery.

Methods: Hospital discharge data from the 1998-2005 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) were used to examine delivery-related hospitalizations for select maternal and fetal outcomes by depression diagnosis.

Results: The rate of depression per 1000 deliveries increased significantly from 2.73 in 1998 to 14.1 in 2005 (p < 0.001). Women diagnosed with depression were significantly more likely to have cesarean delivery, preterm labor, anemia, diabetes, and preeclampsia or hypertension compared with women without depression. Fetal outcomes significantly associated with maternal depression were fetal growth restriction, fetal abnormalities, fetal distress, and fetal death.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that depression is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Our results provide additional impetus to screen for depression among women of reproductive age, especially those who plan to become pregnant.