Depressed Moms More Likely to Have Preemies - Prematurity Awareness Month
A study of 800 pregnant women published in the journal Human Reproduction found that pregnant moms who were severely depressed had twice the risk of having a preemie, while women with less severe symptoms of depression had a 60% higher risk for preterm delivery.
The study was carried out by the research arm of Kaiser Permanente. Overall, researchers found that 41% of women in their study group had significant to severe symptoms of depression.
Researchers theorize that if these study results are accurate, chemical imbalances in the brains of depressed moms could be interfering with the hormonal signals that influence the normal development of the placenta.
While there has been increasing attention on post partum depression, this study highlights the importance of screening for pregnancy before and during pregnancy as well. If the incidence of depression in pregnancy is really as high as this study found, detecting and managing depression during pregnancy could have a very significant impact on the preterm birth rate.
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