To study the period and point prevalence of maternal depressive mood at three occasions before and after childbirth, and the relationship to the parents' psychosocial conditions and experiences of parenthood during the first year after childbirth. In a longitudinal community-based study, 434 pregnant women were invited to complete the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) (cut-off score 9/10) at three time points. The parents' psychosocial conditions and experiences of parenthood were enquired at two months and at one year after childbirth, when the form Experience of Motherhood/Fatherhood Questionnaire (EMQ/EFQ) was applied. Three times measurement responses from both men and women were analyzed using non-parametric statistical methods and path-analysis. About 75% of the parents responded to the questionnaires. The period prevalence was 28%, and the point prevalence found on the three time points was EPDS I 21%, EPDS II 17% and EPDS III 12%. Correlations between antenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms were found, r = 0.61 and r = 0.45, respectively. Women, who experienced financial worries, lack of social support and losses and strains after childbirth showed more symptoms of depressed mood. The maternal depressive mood influenced negatively on breastfeeding and experiences of motherhood, but not on experiences of fatherhood. The partners of depressed women were neither more involved in childcare nor did they utilize paternal leave more than the other men. Both men and women reported the sexual life as negatively influenced by the women's depressed mood.
The present study investigates if mothers and fathers have similar ways of thinking and feeling about their babies during late pregnancy and how aspects of parental-fetal attachment are related to maternal depressive mood. Two hundred and ninety-eight Swedish-speaking women at 30-32 weeks of gestation and partners (n = 274) participated in the study. Socio-demographic background data were collected. Prenatal attachment was assessed with the maternal/paternal-fetal attachment scale (MFA/PFA), and depressive symptoms were assessed by the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS). MFA and PFA scores mirrored each other. After factor analysis, five different factors loaded somewhat differently for men were revealed as significant. These factors were (I) concerns about the fetus and health behavior, (II) mental preparation to take care of the unborn child, (III) experiences of pregnancy, (IV) experiences of fetal movements, and (V) naming of the baby. Factors III and IV were related to depressive symptoms. Mothers with slight depressive symptoms were somewhat less positive about the pregnancy but showed more attention to the fetal movements. Midwives should conduct interviews on the women's psychosocial history and use validated instruments, which may help them to identify problems with the psychosocial health of the mother and her partner as they journey through pregnancy and transition to parenthood.
The aim of this study was to examine parent-child interactions 15-18 months postpartum, in families where the mother either showed depressive symptoms two months postpartum or did not. Maternal mood was assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Eleven women scoring >12 (signs of depressive mood) and 14 women scoring <10 (no signs of depressive mood) on the EPDS and their partners were videotaped in parent-child interactions, assessed by the Parent Child Early Relational Assessment (PCERA). Our results indicate that children of high EPDS-scoring mothers showed less persistence in play with, and less joy in reunion after separation from, their mothers than children of low EPDS-scoring mothers. In contrast, most fathers in families where the mothers scored high on the EPDS seemed to establish joyful relationships with their children and secure child-father attachment 15-18 months postpartum, as if the father "compensated" for the mothers' depressive symptoms.
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