title: A longitudinal analysis of total workload and women's health after childbirth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association of women's postpartum health with total workload (TWL), work and personal factors in the year after childbirth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Employed women from Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota, were recruited while hospitalized for childbirth. Longitudinal analyses, using fixed effects regression models, estimated the associations of TWL, job satisfaction and stress, social support, perceived control, breastfeeding and infant characteristics with women's health at 5 weeks, 11 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months postpartum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Increased TWL over time was associated with significantly poorer mental health and increased symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High TWL--including reduced time for rest, recovery, and sleep--is a risk factor for women's mental health and symptoms 12 months after childbirth. Women's postpartum health was positively associated with social support, which may help to decrease the negative effects of excess work.
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. pmcg@umn.edu
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McGovern
authors.forename: Rada K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dagher
authors.forename: Heidi Roeber
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: Dwenda
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gjerdingen
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dowd
authors.forename: Laurie K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Ukestad
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lundberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D036801:Parturition; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D016387:Women's Health / Q000191:economics*; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*