The relationship between postpartum depression and social support during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Aim This study aims to examine the prevalence of postpartum depression and its relationship with social support adjusted for self‐perceived impact of COVID‐19 in parturient women admitted to a perinatal medical center in Japan. Methods This cross‐sectional study included 513 women who underwent a 1‐month postpartum checkup between August 3 and November 27, 2020. Postpartum depression was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Social support was measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the score was dichotomized using the Youden index. Nineteen demographic and obstetric characteristics were also assessed. Results Postpartum depression was observed in 35 (7.6%) of 461 women: 25 (26.6%) and 10 (2.7%) in the low‐ and high‐support groups, respectively. Women in the low‐support group were significantly more likely to have postpartum depression than those in the high‐support group (odds ratio [OR], 11.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.4–27.3; p < 0.001). Furthermore, no interaction was observed between social support and the impact of COVID‐19 for postpartum depression (p = 0.32). Conclusions The prevalence of postpartum depression in the study institution was lower than that reported by previous studies in Japan. Moreover, social support was an important predictive factor for postpartum depression during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Association between depressive symptoms in the postpartum period and COVID-19: A meta-analysis

“…Home quarantine enabled family members to accompany with the mother, which may alleviate the production and fear of the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the prevalence of PPD. In fact, companionship due to the home quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic had a similar impact on the prevalence of PPD in other countries too ( Gildner et al, 2021 ; Terada et al, 2021 ).…”

Rates of self-reported postpartum depressive symptoms in the United States before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…One possibility is that in states where there was a higher death toll or women's unemployment rate, families spent more time together and the new mothers had greater access to their support systems. Previous work has suggested that increased social support is protective against PDS in the pandemic ( Lebel et al, 2020 ; Pariente et al, 2020 ; Terada et al, 2021 ). In states less impacted by the pandemic in these ways, new mothers may have faced the stresses of the pandemic without as much access to their support system.…”

Factors influencing physical activity in postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey in Japan

“…Also, under such the circumstances, receiving supports from relatives and people nearby is likely to be much more difficult compared before the pandemic. Meanwhile, mothers with high social support scores even during the COVID-19 epidemic were reported to exhibit better psychological states than mothers with low scores [32]. As mentioned previously, given the relationship between worsening mental state and physical inactivity, against a backdrop of mental health stressors brought on by a pandemic, the existence of someone with whom to consult provides a support to mothers and is also thought to produce positive effects on the PA.…”