Relationship Between Postpartum Mood Disorders and Delivery Experience

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Association of poor birth experiences with development of postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

  Enrollees will receive questionnaires for Perinatal Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PPQ) screenings 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postpartum. Positive screens are defined as PPQ\>19. PPQ\>13 will be considered as subsyndromal. At each screening, patients with positive scores will be interviewed to diagnose PTSD and to look for thematic similarities in birth experiences. Patients' medical charts will be reviewed for 4 clinical events: Pain scores \>5 with a labor epidural in place; Pain during cesarean delivery requiring general anesthesia, IV narcotics, ketamine, midazolam, nitrous oxide, or reassurance; Non-elective inductions of labor; and Unplanned surgery including urgent/emergent cesarean delivery and postpartum hemorrhage requiring operating room management. Statistical analysis of all 4 PPQ scores and evaluation of clinical birth events will be performed to determine the association of poor birth experiences with postpartum depression.

  1 year postpartum

• Association of poor birth experience with development of postpartum depression.

  Enrollees will receive questionnaires for Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) screenings at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postpartum. Positive screens are defined as EPDS score \>10 or a positive response for question 10 asking about suicidality. At each screening, patients with positive scores will be interviewed to diagnose depression and to look for thematic similarities in birth experiences. Patients' medical charts will be reviewed for 4 clinical events: Pain scores \>5 with a labor epidural in place; Pain during cesarean delivery requiring general anesthesia, IV narcotics, ketamine, midazolam, nitrous oxide, or reassurance; Non-elective inductions of labor; and Unplanned surgery including urgent/emergent cesarean delivery and postpartum hemorrhage requiring operating room management. Statistical analysis of all 4 EPDS scores and evaluation of clinical birth events will be performed to determine the association of poor birth experiences with postpartum depression.

Conditions