Postpartum depression common among U.S. women

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - As many as one in five women in the United States suffers from postpartum depressive symptoms, according to results of a new survey.

The findings, published in Thursday's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also indicate that certain groups of women, such as those with lower educational levels, are more prone to postpartum depressive symptoms.

The findings stem from an analysis of data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) -- an ongoing surveillance project that collects self-reported data on various pregnancy-related issues.

In 2004-2005, the 17 states participating in PRAMS included two questions relating to postpartum depression in their surveys: 1.) "Since your new baby was born, how often have you felt down, depressed, or hopeless?" and 2.) "Since your new baby was born, how often have you had little interest or little pleasure in doing things?"

The women were considered to have postpartum depressive symptoms if they answered "always" or "often," to either question.

Of the states studied, Maine had the lowest prevalence of self-reported postpartum depressive symptoms at 11.7 percent, while New Mexico had the highest at 20.4 percent.

In all of the states, younger age of the new mother, lower educational attainment, and receipt of Medicaid benefits for delivery correlated postpartum depressive symptoms. In 13 of 16 states with available data, non-Hispanic white women were less likely than women of other ethnicities to have postpartum depression.

Five possible risk factors for postpartum depressive symptoms identified in all or most states included tobacco use late in pregnancy, physical abuse before or during pregnancy, partner-related stress during pregnancy, trauma during pregnancy, and financial stress.

SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, April 10, 2008.