Continued Childbirth Pain Would More Likely Develop To Postpartum Depression, Study Says

A study indicates that women who are still suffering from childbirth pains one month after delivering a baby would more likely to develop into postpartum depression. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that around 1 in 8 women in the United States has postpartum depression following the birth of their child.

The study was presented at World Congress of Anesthesiologists (WCA) in Hong Kong on August 28 to September 2, 2016. It was led by Ms. Wei Du, a third-year medical student, with Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Professor Alex Sia, Dr. Ban Leong Sng and Dr. Helen Chen, mentors and co-authors of the study from KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, according to Science Daily.

The study involved 200 healthy women in Singapore, who gave birth for the first time. The team collected data from them. The women completed tests to rate their level of stress and sensitivity to pain during their pregnancies. At the time of their labor and delivery period, they were given epidural for pain relief.

After six to eight weeks following the birth of their children, the team interviewed by phone all the women to assess their level of anxiety and to know whether they were suffering from continued childbirth pain and evaluate their risk of postpartum depression. The results showed that 5.8 percent of the women had symptoms and at risk for postpartum depression four weeks after giving birth.

The researchers said that this rate is lower than expected. On the other hand, Chen explained that the lower rate of postpartum depression may have resulted because the sample comprised of healthy women and they received epidural pain relief compared to women in the general population. She further explained that those women may or may not be as healthy and might not have received the same form of pain control during delivery.

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Sng told the Live Science that the study supports the need to deal with pain during and after childbirth to lessen the risk of developing postpartum depression. He further said that to do this, anesthesiologists can better address childbirth pain through their assessments and treatment of the condition during and after labor and delivery.