Fear of Giving Birth and Postpartum Depression Connected: Study

A recent study suggests that fear of child birth may be partly due to postpartum depression-otherwise known as a moderate form of depression that occurs frequently after birth takes place.

However, for some, the condition may not manifest right after birth It may take up to a year longer to fully come up. And according to recent findings, doctors have determined that women who fear childbirth greatly may be more susceptible to symptoms of postpartum depression.

An international research team examined data from the Finnish medical birth register, the Finnish congenital malformations register and the Finnish hospital discharge register.  The Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, which monitors these databases, had access to information on 511,422 single births that occurred within the country between 2002 and 2010.

Study findings showed that women who suffered from a history of depression had a higher risk of suffering from postpartum depression, at roughly 5.3 percent. Yet only one-third of the diagnosed cases of those with the issue showed a history of depression. When researchers saw that a woman with postpartum depression had no history of depression, her fear of childbirth was likely to triple by three percent, according to study findings.

The study findings suggest that certain preventative measure may be taken to help reduce a woman's risk for developing this issue, especially if the there is no genetic link to depression.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal BMJ Open.