Open AccessSocial support after stillbirth for prevention of maternal depression
Author(s) -
SURKAN PAMELA J.,
RÅDESTAD INGELA,
CNATTINGIUS SVEN,
STEINECK GUNNAR,
DICKMAN PAUL W.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.3109/00016340903317974
Subject(s) - medicine , depression (economics) , social support , confidence interval , population , singleton , relative risk , edinburgh postnatal depression scale , demography , pregnancy , obstetrics , psychiatry , depressive symptoms , anxiety , psychology , environmental health , genetics , sociology , biology , economics , psychotherapist , macroeconomics
Objective. To study how social support is associated with ensuing maternal depression following stillbirth. Design. Data from a population‐based national postal questionnaire. Setting. Sweden. Population. A total of 314 (83%) of all 380 Swedish‐speaking women who gave birth to singleton stillborn infants in Sweden during 1991, identified through the Swedish Medical Birth Register. Methods. Postal questionnaires addressing maternal social support and demographics were completed three years following the stillbirth. The association between support‐related factors and later maternal depression was assessed using multivariable regression models. Main outcome measure. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results. In adjusted analyses, a father's refusal to talk about a stillborn baby with the mother was associated with an almost five‐fold risk of later maternal depressive symptoms [adjusted risk ratio (RR) 4.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5–14.5]. The mother's belief that she could talk with the infant's father about the child was associated with a reduced risk (adjusted RR 0.5, 95% CI 0.1–0.9). Conclusions. Unwillingness of the father to discuss a stillborn infant with the mother was related to subsequent maternal depressive symptomatology.