Prenatal social support, postnatal social support, and postpartum depression.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the association of antenatal and postnatal social support with postpartum depression (PPD).


METHODS
We carried out a prospective cohort study of 534 pregnant women between February and September 2007 in Hunan, China. The association between prenatal and postnatal social support with PPD was examined.


RESULTS
A total of 103 (19.29%) women had PPD. Women with low prenatal and postnatal social support had higher rates of PPD. For prenatal support, PPD was 28.20% in the lowest quartile versus 9.90% in the highest quartile (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 3.38, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.64,6.98). For postnatal support, PPD was 44.10% in the lowest quartile versus 5.40% in the highest quartile (adjusted OR: 9.64, 95% CI=4.09, 22.69).


CONCLUSIONS
Lower or lack of social support is a risk factor of PPD. The association between postnatal social support and PPD is much stronger than that of prenatal social support.
Xie
Ri-Hua
RH
OMNI Research Group, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
He
Guoping
G
Koszycki
Diana
D
Walker
Mark
M
Wen
Shi Wu
SW
D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D008875:Middle Aged; D011181:Postnatal Care; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult