Sad mothers – disappointed women? Perinatal depression and women's and men's parenthood the first year after childbirth

The aim of the present thesis was to study the prevalence of maternal depressive mood during pregnancy and up to one year after childbirth in relation to the parents' psycho-social conditions, perception of the infant's temperament and experience of parenthood.

Methods: In a longitudinal community-based study, 434 pregnant women were invited to the study. Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was measured at two months before childbirth (I), two months after childbirth (II) and one year after childbirth (III). The parents' psycho-social 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. In addition Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ) was filled in by fathers and mothers two months after childbirth.

Results: Nearly three fourths of the parents responded to the questionnaires. The period prevalence was 28%, and the point prevalence found on the EPDS I was 21%, EPDS II 17% and EPDS III 12%. Correlations between antenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms, antenatal and depressive symptoms at one year were found, r=0.61 and r=0.45 respectively. Women with financial worries, lack of social support, showed more symptoms of depressed mood. The maternal depressive mood influenced negatively on breast-feeding and experiences of motherhood, but not fatherhood. "Depressed" mothers and their partners perceived their children as more temperamentally "difficult" than couples in families with a non-depressed mother.

Conclusion: Since depressive mood occur already during pregnancy it is of utmost importance that the midwife develops methods to identify these women in greater need for social support and a good dialogue to guide them through pregnancy and childbirth to a healthy interaction with their baby and partner.

List of scientific papers

I. Seimyr L, Edhborg M, Lundh W, Sjogren B (2004). In the shadow of maternal depressed mood: experiences of parenthood during the first year after childbirth. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 25(1):23-34.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01674820410001737414

II. Edhborg M, Seimyr L, Lundh W, Widstrom AM (2000). Fussy child - difficult parenthood? Comparisons between families with a depressed mother and non-depressed mother 2 months postpartum. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. 18(3).