Open AccessChildbirth Pain and Post-Partum Depression: Does Labor Epidural Analgesia Decrease This Risk?
Author(s) -
Daniele C Parise,
Caitlin Gilman,
Matthew Petrilli,
Dolores Malaspina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of pain research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 49
ISSN - 1178-7090
DOI - 10.2147/jpr.s305485
Subject(s) - medicine , labor pain , childbirth , depression (economics) , post partum , anesthesia , postpartum depression , obstetrics , pregnancy , genetics , biology , economics , macroeconomics
Post-partum depression (PPD) is a common complication of pregnancy worldwide with a prevalence as high as 15% in some countries. Pain has been identified as a risk factor for major depression; however, the relationship between labor-related pain and PPD is less understood. This article sought out to examine the relationship between pain and PPD, examining whether there is a correlation that reducing pain through epidural analgesia can lower the risk for PPD. A PubMed database search was performed using the keywords "post-partum depression" and "labor epidural". Multiple articles including 2 meta-analyses were evaluated for the association between post-partum depression and epidural analgesia for labor. Although there is evidence supporting labor epidural analgesia reducing PPD, many studies including the meta-analyses did not uphold the hypothesis. More well-designed studies on this topic need to be investigated in order to substantiate the current evidence in the literature.