A new study shows that women who had unintentional pregnancy were more susceptible to postpartum depression, reports Medical Xpress.
Pregnancy has long been associated with different symptoms of depression, either due to lack of social support or conceiving at an early age, but a new study shows that unintended pregnancy can lead to long term depression.
For the study, researchers interviewed pregnant women during their 15-19 weeks gestational age. All participants were divided into three groups, intended, mistimed or unwanted pregnancy. The study was carried out in the University of North Carolina prenatal clinics.
Postpartum depression is often a case when women undergo a lot of stress during their pregnancy. Women undergo a series of emotional stages during their pregnancies and nearly 10-20 percent of women struggle with symptoms of depression.
The women were divided into three categories- 433 women had an intended pregnancy which accounted for 64 percent of total participants, while mistimed and unwanted pregnancy was categorized as unintended pregnancy accounting for 36 percent collectively. About 207 women said they'd mistimed pregnancy and 40 women said they had unwanted pregnancy.
Researchers analyzed the data in two intervals, first at three months for 688 women and second at twelve months for 550 women. According to the results, women with unintended pregnancy were at a greater risk of postpartum depression at twelve months than in third month.
Researchers also factored in age, economic status and education level into their results and found that women with unintended pregnancies were twice as likely to have postpartum depression at twelve months.
"While many elements may contribute to postpartum depression, the results of this study show that unintended pregnancy resulting in live birth could also be a contributing factor," said Dr Rebecca Mercier, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of North Carolina and co-author of the research.
Dr. Mercier suggests doctors and healthcare professionals must consider counseling pregnant women if their pregnancy was unintended or unwanted, as that may help in tackling symptoms of depression in a much effective manner.
"Simple, low-cost screening interventions to identify women at risk could allow targeted intervention when appropriate and could potentially prevent complications from future unintended pregnancies," she said.
Many factors account for depression during pregnancies which lead to health disorders in later life, which can be understood in depth by carrying out further studies.
The findings of the study are published in an online journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
