Depression Risk After NICU Discharge Decreases in Moms, but Not Dads

Mothers and fathers of premature infants are known to be at higher risk of postpartum depression compared with parents of full-term infants. Astudy inPediatrics has found that while mothers ’ risk of depression decreased after an infant’s discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the hospital, fathers’ depression risk stayed relatively constant during and after the NICU stay.“Clinicians must understand how different populations are at risk for [postpartum depression] to ensure optimal child outcomes,” wrote Craig Garfield, M.D., of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues. “Screening parents for [postpartum depression] while their infant is in the NICU may be a key first step toward assisting both parents and, in the case of fathers in particular, becoming aware of potential post-discharge needs.”Garfield and colleagues enrolled 230 mothers and 201 fathers who had premature infants (<37 weeks gestational age) recently admitted to the NICU for a prospective study. All the parents were screened with the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) at four time points: one week after the infant was admitted to the NICU, at NICU discharge, 14 days post discharge, and 30 days post discharge. An EPDS score of 10 or higher (out of 21 max) was considered the cutoff for depression.At the initial assessment, 33% of the mothers and 17% of fathers had a positive EPDS screen. By the final assessment 30 days after NICU discharge, a...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: depression depression trajectory Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale fathers mothers neonatal intensive care unit NICU pediatric Source Type: research