Depression tied to preterm delivery

Women who suffer from depression early in pregnancy are at an increased risk of delivering prematurely. To study depression as a predictor of premature delivery, researchers from America identified 791 pregnant women, of whom 41 percent had moderate to severe depression symptoms, based on a standard screening questionnaire. Most women in the study were not on antidepressant drugs. It was found that those who were suffering from significant depression symptoms around the 10th week of pregnancy were twice as likely as non-depressed women to deliver prematurely. The risk of preterm delivery further rose in tandem with the severity of early-pregnancy depression - supporting a direct relationship between the two. Among women without significant depression symptoms at the study's start, 4 percent delivered prematurely -- before the 37th week of pregnancy. That compared with nearly 6 percent of women with moderate depression, and just over 9 percent of those with severe symptoms. The above findings suggest that prenatal depression itself may contribute to premature delivery and therefore, depression during pregnancy should not be dismissed as something normal. The findings could be attributed to the fact that depression may influence placental hormones and disrupt the normal functioning of the placenta, which is crucial to a healthy pregnancy. Further studies are needed to find if treating prenatal depression lowers the risk of preterm birth.

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